WorldWideScience

Sample records for global plant hardiness

  1. Metal stress consequences on frost hardiness of plants at northern high latitudes: a review and hypothesis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taulavuori, Kari; Prasad, M.N.V.; Taulavuori, Erja; Laine, Kari

    2005-01-01

    This paper reviews the potential of trace/heavy metal-induced stress to reduce plant frost hardiness at northern high latitudes. The scientific questions are first outlined prior to a brief summary of heavy metal tolerance. The concepts of plant capacity and survival adaptation were used to formulate a hypothesis, according to which heavy metal stress may reduce plant frost hardiness for the following reasons: (1) Heavy metals change membrane properties through impaired resource acquisition and subsequent diminution of the cryoprotectant pool. (2) Heavy metals change membrane properties directly through oxidative stress, i.e. an increase of active oxygen species. (3) The involved co-stress may further increase oxidative stress. (4) The risk of frost injury increases due to membrane alterations. An opposite perspective was also discussed: could metal stress result in enhanced plant frost hardiness? This phenomenon could be based on the metabolism (i.e. glutathione, polyamines, proline, heat shock proteins) underlying a possible general adaptation syndrome of stress (GAS). As a result of the review it was suggested that metal-induced stress seems to reduce rather than increase plant frost hardiness. - Metal stress may reduce plant frost hardiness

  2. Metal stress consequences on frost hardiness of plants at northern high latitudes: a review and hypothesis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taulavuori, Kari [Department of Biology, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, FIN-90014, Oulu (Finland)]. E-mail: kari.taulavuori@oulu.fi; Prasad, M.N.V. [Department of Plant Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500 046, Andhra Pradesh (India); Taulavuori, Erja [Department of Biology, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, FIN-90014, Oulu (Finland); Laine, Kari [Department of Biology, University of Oulu, PO Box 3000, FIN-90014, Oulu (Finland)

    2005-05-01

    This paper reviews the potential of trace/heavy metal-induced stress to reduce plant frost hardiness at northern high latitudes. The scientific questions are first outlined prior to a brief summary of heavy metal tolerance. The concepts of plant capacity and survival adaptation were used to formulate a hypothesis, according to which heavy metal stress may reduce plant frost hardiness for the following reasons: (1) Heavy metals change membrane properties through impaired resource acquisition and subsequent diminution of the cryoprotectant pool. (2) Heavy metals change membrane properties directly through oxidative stress, i.e. an increase of active oxygen species. (3) The involved co-stress may further increase oxidative stress. (4) The risk of frost injury increases due to membrane alterations. An opposite perspective was also discussed: could metal stress result in enhanced plant frost hardiness? This phenomenon could be based on the metabolism (i.e. glutathione, polyamines, proline, heat shock proteins) underlying a possible general adaptation syndrome of stress (GAS). As a result of the review it was suggested that metal-induced stress seems to reduce rather than increase plant frost hardiness. - Metal stress may reduce plant frost hardiness.

  3. Metal stress consequences on frost hardiness of plants at northern high latitudes: a review and hypothesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taulavuori, Kari; Prasad, M N V; Taulavuori, Erja; Laine, Kari

    2005-05-01

    This paper reviews the potential of trace/heavy metal-induced stress to reduce plant frost hardiness at northern high latitudes. The scientific questions are first outlined prior to a brief summary of heavy metal tolerance. The concepts of plant capacity and survival adaptation were used to formulate a hypothesis, according to which heavy metal stress may reduce plant frost hardiness for the following reasons: (1) Heavy metals change membrane properties through impaired resource acquisition and subsequent diminution of the cryoprotectant pool. (2) Heavy metals change membrane properties directly through oxidative stress, i.e. an increase of active oxygen species. (3) The involved co-stress may further increase oxidative stress. (4) The risk of frost injury increases due to membrane alterations. An opposite perspective was also discussed: could metal stress result in enhanced plant frost hardiness? This phenomenon could be based on the metabolism (i.e. glutathione, polyamines, proline, heat shock proteins) underlying a possible general adaptation syndrome of stress (GAS). As a result of the review it was suggested that metal-induced stress seems to reduce rather than increase plant frost hardiness.

  4. Development of a new USDA plant hardiness zone map for the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    C. Daly; M.P. Widrlechner; M.D. Halbleib; J.I. Smith; W.P. Gibson

    2012-01-01

    In many regions of the world, the extremes of winter cold are a major determinant of the geographic distribution of perennial plant species and of their successful cultivation. In the United States, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) is the primary reference for defining geospatial patterns of extreme winter cold for the...

  5. Hardy Inequalities in Globally Twisted Waveguides

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Briet, Ph.; Hammedi, H.; Krejčiřík, David

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 105, č. 7 (2015), s. 939-958 ISSN 0377-9017 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-06818S Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : quantum waveguides * twisted tubes * Dirichlet Laplacian * Hardy inequality Subject RIV: BE - Theoretical Physics Impact factor: 1.517, year: 2015

  6. Estimating Climate Trends: Application to United States Plant Hardiness Zones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nir Y. Krakauer

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The United States Department of Agriculture classifies plant hardiness zones based on mean annual minimum temperatures over some past period (currently 1976–2005. Since temperatures are changing, these values may benefit from updating. I outline a multistep methodology involving imputation of missing station values, geostatistical interpolation, and time series smoothing to update a climate variable’s expected value compared to a climatology period and apply it to estimating annual minimum temperature change over the coterminous United States. I show using hindcast experiments that trend estimation gives more accurate predictions of minimum temperatures 1-2 years in advance compared to the previous 30 years’ mean alone. I find that annual minimum temperature increased roughly 2.5 times faster than mean temperature (~2.0 K versus ~0.8 K since 1970, and is already an average of 1.2  0.5 K (regionally up to ~2 K above the 1976–2005 mean, so that much of the country belongs to warmer hardiness zones compared to the current map. The methods developed may also be applied to estimate changes in other climate variables and geographic regions.

  7. Generalized noncommutative Hardy and Hardy-Hilbert type inequalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Frank; Krulic, Kristina; Pecaric, Josip

    2010-01-01

    We extend and unify several Hardy type inequalities to functions whose values are positive semi-definite operators. In particular, our methods lead to the operator versions of Hardy-Hilbert's and Godunova's inequalities. While classical Hardy type inequalities hold for parameter values p > 1, it ...

  8. Cold hardiness research on agricultural and horticultural crops in Finland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. LINDÉN

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper represents an overview of cold hardiness research conducted on agricultural and horticultural crops, as well as on amenity plants in Finland. Inadequate freezing tolerance and/or winter hardiness often prevents introduction of new species and cultivars to Finland. Field observations on winter hardiness and more recently the results from laboratory freezing tests, have assisted breeders to select hardy genotypes. Research approaches for agricultural crops have evolved from observations on winter and frost damage to studies on molecular mechanisms of cold acclimation and freezing injury. The results of experiments on survival of winter cereals, grasses and clovers and frost tolerance of potato and turnip rape are discussed. The studies conducted on horticultural crops, including apple, strawberry, raspberry, currants, blueberry, sea buckthorn, perennial herbs as well as on ornamental trees and shrubs have included field evaluations of cultivars, or selections for winter hardiness, and studies on the effects of cultural management practices on winter survival. During the last decade detailed studies including controlled freezing tests have provided tools to assist in explanation of the underlying mechanisms of cold hardiness also in horticultural plants. ;

  9. Analyzing the Implications of Climate Data on Plant Hardiness Zones for Green Infrastructure Planning: Case Study of Knoxville, Tennessee and Surrounding Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sylvester, Linda M [ORNL; Omitaomu, Olufemi A [ORNL; Parish, Esther S [ORNL

    2016-07-01

    Downscaled climate data for Knoxville, Tennessee and the surrounding region were used to investigate future changing Plant Hardiness Zones due to climate change. The methodology used is the same as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), well-known for their creation of the standard Plant Hardiness Zone map used by gardeners and planners. USDA data were calculated from observed daily data for 1976–2005. The modeled climate data for the past is daily data from 1980-2005 and the future data is projected for 2025–2050. The average of all the modeled annual extreme minimums for each time period of interest was calculated. Each 1 km raster cell was placed into zone categories based on temperature, using the same criteria and categories of the USDA. The individual models vary between suggesting little change to the Plant Hardiness Zones to suggesting Knoxville moves into the next two Hardiness Zones. But overall, the models suggest moving into the next warmer Zone. USDA currently has the Knoxville area categorized as Zone 7a. None of the Zones calculated from the climate data models placed Knoxville in Zone 7a for the similar time period. The models placed Knoxville in a cooler Hardiness Zone and projected the area to increase to Zone 7. The modeled temperature data appears to be slightly cooler than the actual temperature data and this may explain the zone discrepancy. However, overall Knoxville is projected to increase to the next warmer Zone. As the modeled data has Knoxville, overall, moving from Zone 6 to Zone 7, it can be inferred that Knoxville, Tennessee may increase from their current Zone 7 to Zone 8.

  10. Thomas Hardy's Victorian Gothic: Reassessing Hardy's Fiction and His Gothic Sensibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldstein, Norma Walrath

    Proposing that Thomas Hardy's fiction exhibits strong Gothic sensibilities which offer insight into his artistic vision and add to the power of his fiction, creating a new form of the Gothic, a Victorian Gothic, this dissertation reassesses the Gothic strains in Hardy's fiction. The dissertation is in eight chapters: (1) Introduction to Hardy's…

  11. An induced mutant of Coastcross 1 Bermudagrass with improved winter hardiness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burton, G.W.; Constantin, M.J.; Dobson, J.W. Jr.; Hanna, W.W.; Powell, J.B.

    1980-01-01

    Coastcross 1 bermudagrass, a sterile F 1 hybrid, (Coastal x PI 255445) establishes faster, yields as much dry matter, is 12% more digestible, and gives 30-35% better daily gains and liveweight gains per ha when fed to cattle than does the Coastal clone but fails to develop rhizomes and lacks the winter hardiness of Coastal. To create a winter hardy mutant, 500,000 green stems were exposed to 7000 rad of 60 -Co rays at Oak Ridge, TN June 21, 1971 and were immediately planted at Blairsville, GA where relatively severe winters occur frequently. One of 4 plants surviving the 1971-72 winter was like Coastcross 1 in yield, in vitro dry matter digestibility and appearance in a 3-yr test during mild winters at Tifton, GA. Following the moderate winter of 1976-77, Coastcross 1-M3 yielded more than Coastcross 1 but only about half as much as Coastal. The severe winter of 1977-78 destroyed about 98% of the plants of Coastcross 1 and Coastcross 1-M3 but reduced the stand of Coastal very little. The small gain in winter hardiness by Coastcross 1-M3 suggests that several genes control the winter hardiness of well-established Coastal bermudagrass. (author)

  12. Generalized Hardy's Paradox

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Shu-Han; Xu, Zhen-Peng; Su, Hong-Yi; Pati, Arun Kumar; Chen, Jing-Ling

    2018-01-01

    Here, we present the most general framework for n -particle Hardy's paradoxes, which include Hardy's original one and Cereceda's extension as special cases. Remarkably, for any n ≥3 , we demonstrate that there always exist generalized paradoxes (with the success probability as high as 1 /2n -1) that are stronger than the previous ones in showing the conflict of quantum mechanics with local realism. An experimental proposal to observe the stronger paradox is also presented for the case of three qubits. Furthermore, from these paradoxes we can construct the most general Hardy's inequalities, which enable us to detect Bell's nonlocality for more quantum states.

  13. Latitudinal variation in cold hardiness in introduced Tamarix and native Populus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedman, Jonathan M.; Roelle, James E.; Gaskin, John F.; Pepper, Alan E.; Manhart, James R.

    2008-01-01

    To investigate the evolution of clinal variation in an invasive plant, we compared cold hardiness in the introduced saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima, Tamarix chinensis, and hybrids) and the native plains cottonwood (Populus deltoidessubsp. monilifera). In a shadehouse in Colorado (41°N), we grew plants collected along a latitudinal gradient in the central United States (29–48°N). On 17 occasions between September 2005 and June 2006, we determined killing temperatures using freeze-induced electrolyte leakage and direct observation. In midwinter, cottonwood survived cooling to −70°C, while saltcedar was killed at −33 to −47°C. Frost sensitivity, therefore, may limit northward expansion of saltcedar in North America. Both species demonstrated inherited latitudinal variation in cold hardiness. For example, from September through January killing temperatures for saltcedar from 29.18°N were 5–21°C higher than those for saltcedar from 47.60°N, and on September 26 and October 11, killing temperatures for cottonwood from 33.06°N were >43°C higher than those for cottonwood from 47.60°N. Analysis of nine microsatellite loci showed that southern saltcedars are more closely related to T. chinensis while northern plants are more closely related to T. ramosissima. Hybridization may have introduced the genetic variability necessary for rapid evolution of the cline in saltcedar cold hardiness.

  14. Hardy type inequalities on time scales

    CERN Document Server

    Agarwal, Ravi P; Saker, Samir H

    2016-01-01

    The book is devoted to dynamic inequalities of Hardy type and extensions and generalizations via convexity on a time scale T. In particular, the book contains the time scale versions of classical Hardy type inequalities, Hardy and Littlewood type inequalities, Hardy-Knopp type inequalities via convexity, Copson type inequalities, Copson-Beesack type inequalities, Liendeler type inequalities, Levinson type inequalities and Pachpatte type inequalities, Bennett type inequalities, Chan type inequalities, and Hardy type inequalities with two different weight functions. These dynamic inequalities contain the classical continuous and discrete inequalities as special cases when T = R and T = N and can be extended to different types of inequalities on different time scales such as T = hN, h > 0, T = qN for q > 1, etc.In this book the authors followed the history and development of these inequalities. Each section in self-contained and one can see the relationship between the time scale versions of the inequalities and...

  15. The analysis and geometry of Hardy's inequality

    CERN Document Server

    Balinsky, Alexander A; Lewis, Roger T

    2015-01-01

    This volume presents advances that have been made over recent decades in areas of research featuring Hardy's inequality and related topics. The inequality and its extensions and refinements are not only of intrinsic interest but are indispensable tools in many areas of mathematics and mathematical physics. Hardy inequalities on domains have a substantial role and this necessitates a detailed investigation of significant geometric properties of a domain and its boundary. Other topics covered in this volume are Hardy- Sobolev-Maz’ya inequalities; inequalities of Hardy-type involving magnetic fields; Hardy, Sobolev and Cwikel-Lieb-Rosenbljum inequalities for Pauli operators; the Rellich inequality.   The Analysis and Geometry of Hardy’s Inequality provides an up-to-date account of research in areas of contemporary interest and would be suitable for a graduate course in mathematics or physics. A good basic knowledge of real and complex analysis is a prerequisite.

  16. Tolerance to multiple climate stressors: A case study of Douglas-fir drought and cold hardiness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bansal, Sheel; Harrington, Constance A; St. Clair, John Bradley

    2016-01-01

    Summary: 1. Drought and freeze events are two of the most common forms of climate extremes which result in tree damage or death, and the frequency and intensity of both stressors may increase with climate change. Few studies have examined natural covariation in stress tolerance traits to cope with multiple stressors among wild plant populations. 2. We assessed the capacity of coastal Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii), an ecologically and economically important species in the northwestern USA, to tolerate both drought and cold stress on 35 populations grown in common gardens. We used principal components analysis to combine drought and cold hardiness trait data into generalized stress hardiness traits to model geographic variation in hardiness as a function of climate across the Douglas-fir range. 3. Drought and cold hardiness converged among populations along winter temperature gradients and diverged along summer precipitation gradients. Populations originating in regions with cold winters had relatively high tolerance to both drought and cold stress, which is likely due to overlapping adaptations for coping with winter desiccation. Populations from regions with dry summers had increased drought hardiness but reduced cold hardiness, suggesting a trade-off in tolerance mechanisms. 4. Our findings highlight the necessity to look beyond bivariate trait–climate relationships and instead consider multiple traits and climate variables to effectively model and manage for the impacts of climate change on widespread species.

  17. Influence of photoperiod and temperature on frost hardiness and free amino acid concentrations in black spruce seedlings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1993-01-01

    Because photoperiod and temperature both influence amino acid metabolism in plants, seasonal reductions in day length and temperature may be responsible for the changes in amino acid concentrations that occur in conifers with the onset of winter. Since such fluctuations in conifers occur in association with the development of frost hardiness, it has been suggested that the accumulation of specific free amino acids may be related to the development of frost hardiness. This study was designed to determine the effects of photoperiod and temperature on proline, arginine, and tryptophan concentrations in the shoots of black spruce seedlings in relation to the development of hardiness to -20C.

  18. Techniques for cold hardiness research for apple rootstocks

    OpenAIRE

    Privé, Jean-Pierre

    2006-01-01

    Three reliable methods are explained for estimating different types of cold hardiness in Malus. They include: 1) a whole plant controlled freezing experiment for the assessment of low mid-winter injury, 2) electrical impedance spectroscopy (Z), for the estimation of multiple freeze-thaw cycling injury and 3) a controlled freezing protocol to facilitate the rapid screening of large populations of Malus seedlings. The aim of this manuscript is not the results of these three methods but rather t...

  19. Frost hardiness of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal Scots pine under two fertilization treatments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korhonen, Anna; Lehto, Tarja; Repo, Tapani

    2015-07-01

    Survival and functioning of mycorrhizal associations at low temperatures are not known well. In an earlier study, ectomycorrhizas did not affect the frost hardiness of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) roots, but here we studied whether differential nutrient availability would change the result and additionally, alter frost hardiness aboveground. The aim in this experiment was to compare the frost hardiness of roots and needles of mycorrhizal (Hebeloma sp.) and non-mycorrhizal Scots pine seedlings raised using two fertilization treatments and two cold-hardening regimes. The fertilization treatments were low (LF) and high (HF) application of a complete nutrient solution. Three hundred mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal seedlings were cultivated in growth chambers in four blocks for 16 weeks. For the first 9 weeks, the seedlings grew in long-day and high-temperature (LDHT) with low fertilization and then they were raised for 3 weeks in LDHT with either low or high fertilization. After this, half of the plants in each treatment combination remained in LDHT, and half were transferred to short-day and low-temperature (SDLT) conditions to cold acclimatize. The frost hardiness of the roots and needles was assessed using controlled freezing tests followed by electrolyte leakage tests (REL). Mycorrhizal roots were slightly more frost hardy than non-mycorrhizal roots, but only in the growing-season conditions (LDHT) in low-nutrient treatment. In LDHT and LF, the frost hardiness of the non-mycorrhizal roots was about -9 °C, and that of the non-mycorrhizal HF roots and the mycorrhizal roots in both fertilization levels was about -11 °C. However, no difference was found in the roots within the SDLT regime, and in needles, there was no difference between mycorrhizal and fertilization treatments. The frost hardiness of needles increased by SDLT treatment, being -8.5 and -14.1 °C in LDHT and SDLT, respectively. The dry mass of roots, stems, and needles was lower in LF than in

  20. On Hardy's paradox, weak measurements, and multitasking diagrams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meglicki, Zdzislaw

    2011-01-01

    We discuss Hardy's paradox and weak measurements by using multitasking diagrams, which are introduced to illustrate the progress of quantum probabilities through the double interferometer system. We explain how Hardy's paradox is avoided and elaborate on the outcome of weak measurements in this context. -- Highlights: → Hardy's paradox explained and eliminated. → Weak measurements: what is really measured? → Multitasking diagrams: introduced and used to discuss quantum mechanical processes.

  1. Hardy type inequalities on the sphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaomei Sun

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract In this paper, we consider the L p $L^{p}$ -Hardy inequalities on the sphere. By the divergence theorem, we establish the L p $L^{p}$ -Hardy inequalities on the sphere. Furthermore, we also obtain their best constants. Our results can be regarded as the extension of Xiao’s (J. Math. Inequal. 10:793-805, 2016.

  2. Hardiness as a mediator between perceived stress and happiness in nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdollahi, A; Abu Talib, M; Yaacob, S N; Ismail, Z

    2014-01-01

    The relevance of the study of happiness and stress in nurses has been emphasized. In this sense, the intelligent use of hardiness is enable nurses to cope better with stress and contribute to being happier. This study aimed to examine the relationship among hardiness, perceived stress, and happiness in nurses. Moreover, we examined the mediator role of hardiness on the relationship between perceived stress and happiness in nurses. Our study revealed that hardi-attitude nurses evaluate situations as less stressful which results in a higher happiness. This study showed hardiness as being a protective factor against perceived stress and a facilitating factor for happiness in nurses. The findings could be important in training future nurses so that hardiness can be imparted, thereby giving them the ability to control their stress. Nursing is a stressful occupation with high levels of stress within the health professions. Given that hardiness is an important construct to enable nurses to cope better with stress and contribute to being happier; therefore, it is necessary we advance our knowledge about the aetiology of happiness, especially the role of hardiness in decreasing stress levels and increasing happiness. The present study sought to investigate the role of hardiness as a mediator between perceived stress and happiness. The participants, comprising 252 nurses from six private hospitals in Tehran, completed the Personal Views Survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Oxford Happiness Inventory. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data and answer the research hypotheses. As expected, hardiness partially mediated between perceived stress and happiness among nurses, and nurses with low levels of perceived stress were more likely to report greater hardiness and happiness. In addition, nurses with high levels of hardiness were more likely to report happiness. This study showed hardiness as being a protective factor against perceived stress and

  3. The Hardy Space of a Slit Domain

    CERN Document Server

    Aleman, Alexandru

    2009-01-01

    Beginning with an exposition of Hardy spaces of slit domains, this book proceeds to several descriptions of the invariant subspaces of the operator multiplication by z. It also discusses and characterizes the nearly invariant subspaces of these Hardy spaces and examines conditions for z-invariant subspaces to be cyclic.

  4. Cold hardiness increases with age in juvenile Rhododendron populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rajeev eArora

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Winter survival in woody plants is controlled by environmental and genetic factors that affect the plant's ability to cold acclimate. Because woody perennials are long-lived and often have a prolonged juvenile (pre-flowering phase, it is conceivable that both chronological and physiological age factors influence adaptive traits such as stress tolerance. This study investigated annual cold hardiness (CH changes in several hybrid Rhododendron populations based on Tmax, an estimate of the maximum rate of freezing injury (ion leakage in cold-acclimated leaves from juvenile progeny. Data from F2 and backcross populations derived from R. catawbiense and R. fortunei parents indicated significant annual increases in Tmax ranging from 3.7 to to 6.4 C as the seedlings aged from 3 to 5 years old. A similar yearly increase (6.7° C was observed in comparisons of 1- and 2-year-old F1 progenies from a R. catawbiense x R. dichroanthum cross. In contrast, CH of the mature parent plants (> 10 years old did not change significantly over the same evaluation period. In leaf samples from a natural population of R. maximum, CH evaluations over two years resulted in an average Tmax value for juvenile 2- to 3- year- old plants that was 9.2 C lower than the average for mature (~30 years old plants. . A reduction in CH was also observed in three hybrid rhododendron cultivars clonally propagated by rooted cuttings (ramets - Tmax of 4-year-old ramets was significantly lower than the Tmax estimates for the 30- to 40-year-old source plants (ortets. In both the wild R. maximum population and the hybrid cultivar group, higher accumulation of a cold-acclimation responsive 25kDa leaf dehydrin was associated with older plants and higher CH. The feasibility of identifying hardy phenotypes at juvenile period and research implications of age-dependent changes in CH are discussed.

  5. On some fractional order hardy inequalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kufner Alois

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available Weighted inequalities for fractional derivatives ( fractional order Hardy-type inequalities have recently been proved in [4] and [1]. In this paper, new inequalities of this type are proved and applied. In particular, the general mixed norm case and a general twodimensional weight are considered. Moreover, an Orlicz norm version and a multidimensional fractional order Hardy inequality are proved. The connections to related results are pointed out.

  6. STATIC ANALYSIS FOR HARDY COUPLI

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    MIHAELA Urdea

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Couplings are machine parts for transmitting rotational movement and torque without changing the law of movement. Couplings have a great variety of constructive shapes; this paper refers to elastic couplings especially to Hardy couplings. The main goal of this work is to generate a finite element model for a Hardy coupling. In order to prepare the model for analysis with finite element, the coupling has been modeled in CATIA, especially for this activity. The analysis model should have the same behavior as in reality, so the contact with shafts and keyways is replaced with rigid elements.

  7. The Relationship Between Approach-Avoidance Behaviors and Hardiness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmad Ali-Poor

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Background: Hardiness as a personality trait is an important factor in directing people to success. An explanation for this trait is the psychobiological explanation including the Gray’s theory of Brian/behavioral systems. This study has examined the relationship between the Brian/behavioral systems and hardiness in successful people.Materials and Methods: In this study, 60 successful students (medical students in their final two years of medical school and 60 ordinary subjects were studied using two personality questionnaires (Gary-Wilson and Hardiness Questionnaires as well as Pearson’s correlation statistical technique, regression, and independent t-test.Results: Data analysis showed that the activity level of behavioral activation system (p=0.002: active avoidance and p> 0.001: approach behavior and hardiness (p>0.001 is significantly higher in successful people than ordinary subjects and that there is a significant relationship between hardiness and two components of behavioral activation system and one component of behavioral inhibition system (i.e. active avoidance (p>0.01. Conclusion: According to the findings, only two components of approach behavior and active avoidance can predict the variable hardiness. However, these two components are considered as only one of the predictors of success and there are undoubtedly many other factors involved in this regard. Overall, this study can lead to the identification of new factors involved in the success occurrence that consideration of them can help understanding the individual differences in order to perform effective psychological interventions to improve the level of effort and success in people.

  8. The influence of sowing period and seeding norm on autumn vegetation, winter hardiness and yield of winter cereal crops

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Potapova G. N.

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available the winter wheat and triticale in the middle part of the Ural Mountains haven’t been seeded before. The technology of winter crop cultivation should be improved due to the production of new varieties of winter rye. Winter hardiness and yield of winter rye are higher in comparison with winter triticale and especially with winter wheat. The sowing period and the seeding rate influence the amount of yield and winter hardiness. The winter hardiness of winter cereals and the yield of the rye variety Iset sowed on August 25 and the yield of the triticale variety Bashkir short-stalked and wheat Kazanskaya 560 sowed on August 15 were higher. It is important to sow winter grain in local conditions in the second half of August. The sowing this period allows to provide plants with the necessary amount of positive temperatures (450–500 °C. This helps the plants to form 3–4 shoots of tillering and a mass of 10 dry plants reaching 3–5 grams. The winter grain crops in the middle part of the Ural Mountains should be sown with seeding rates of 6 and 7 million of sprouting grains per 1 ha, and the seeds must be cultivated with fungicidal preparation before seeding.

  9. Hardy's argument and successive spin-s measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahanj, Ali

    2010-01-01

    We consider a hidden-variable theoretic description of successive measurements of noncommuting spin observables on an input spin-s state. In this scenario, the hidden-variable theory leads to a Hardy-type argument that quantum predictions violate it. We show that the maximum probability of success of Hardy's argument in quantum theory is ((1/2)) 4s , which is more than in the spatial case.

  10. The role of hardiness in the bullying-mental health relationship.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reknes, I; Harris, A; Einarsen, S

    2018-02-16

    Workplace bullying has consistently been found to predict mental health problems among those affected. However, less attention has been given to personal dispositions as possible moderators in this relationship. To investigate the moderating role of individual hardiness in the relationship between exposure to bullying behaviours and symptoms of anxiety and depression, respectively, assuming that high hardiness, being an individual stress resilience factor, acts as a buffer in these relationships. Survey data were gathered in 2016-17, among land-based employees in a Norwegian oil and gas company. Participants completed a questionnaire electronically via a link sent to their work e-mail. The PROCESS macro SPSS supplement was used to analyse the proposed relationships, with mean-centred variables. Altogether, 275 participated in the study (46% response rate). High hardiness acted as a buffer in the bullying-anxiety relationship, in that hardy individuals did not experience increased levels of anxiety when facing bullying behaviours. Low levels of hardiness, on the other hand, acted as an enhancement factor, in that the bullying-anxiety relationship was strengthened for this group. Contrary to expectations, hardiness did not act as a buffer in the bullying-depression relationship. Hardy individuals were less likely to report anxiety in response to bullying than non-hardy workers, a finding with important practical implications. Yet, regardless of who is affected, managers should focus on good strategies to intervene when bullying is detected, and stress resilience training should be considered as part of these strategies. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  11. Eye trauma in Laurel and Hardy movies - another nice mess.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zegers, Lara DA; Zegers, Richard Hc

    2016-11-01

    One of the characteristics in Laurel and Hardy films is a lot of physical violence. The present study examines the occurrence of eye trauma in Laurel and Hardy movies and discusses the impact they could have been had if the films were set in reality. All 92 movies starring Laurel and Hardy as a pair in leading roles were watched together by the authors and were scored for any eye trauma. Eighty-eight eye traumas happened, of which 48% were directed at Hardy. The eye poke was the most frequently occurring eye trauma and the traumatic corneal abrasion was very likely the most frequently occurring injury. Among the most serious causes of eye trauma were the pin of a door handle, a stick, a champagne cork, a tree branch and tacks. Without a doubt, if their films had been reality, especially Hardy but also Laurel and several other people, would have suffered from serious eye injuries caused by the 88 eye traumas. The findings of the present study might reflect the personality, character and intellectual capacity of both Laurel and Hardy as 'Two Minds Without a Single Thought'. © The Author(s) 2016.

  12. Non-commutative Hardy inequalities

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Frank

    2009-01-01

    We extend Hardy's inequality from sequences of non-negative numbers to sequences of positive semi-definite operators if the parameter p satisfies 1 1. Applications to trace functions are given. We introduce the tracial geometric mean...

  13. Analyzing Exertion of Hardy's Tragic Effect in "Tess"

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Wei

    2009-01-01

    This paper begins with a brief introduction to [Thomas] Hardy's whole life and his works, especially this novel "Tess [of the D'Urbervilles]" and points out the tragic effect's importance and Hardy's tragic idea. Linked to this tragic effect, this paper analyzes the nice application in "Tess." At last, we can understand more…

  14. Relationship between nurses’ spiritual intelligence with hardiness and general health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Akbarizadeh

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Nursing is one of the stressful jobs that affect nurse's general health. The aim of this study was assessment relationship between Spiritual intelligence, Hardiness and General health among nurses in the hospital of Bushehr in 1388. Methods: Cross- sectional study designed and 125 nurses who have been working in different wards of the hospital enrolled in the study. Data was collected using Spiritual intelligence, Hardiness, General health and characteristics demographic questionnaires. Correlation, t-test, ANOVA, Tukey and regression analysis was applied using SPSS-16 soft ware. Results: The results showed there was significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and hardiness (P<0.005, spiritual intelligence and General health (P<0.005, hardiness and General health (P<0.001. Among the demographic characteristics including age, gender, working section, marital status, job experiences, and education only working section showed significantly correlated with patience (P<0.005. Conclusion: Improvement of spiritual intelligence and reinforcement of hardiness could help to increase the general health of nurses.

  15. On an analogue of Hardy's inequality for the Walsh-Fourier

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Golubov, B I

    2001-01-01

    According to Hardy's well-known inequality, the l 1 -norm of a function in the Hardy space H(t) consisting of 2π-periodic functions serves as an upper estimate for the l 1 -norm of the sequence of Fourier coefficients of the integral of the function. In this paper, the dyadic Hardy space H(R + ) is introduced and an analogue of this estimate is proved for the Walsh-Fourier transform

  16. On Hardy's paradox, weak measurements, and multitasking diagrams

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meglicki, Zdzislaw, E-mail: gustav@indiana.edu [Indiana University, Office of the Vice President for Information Technology, 601 E. Kirkwood Ave., Room 116, Bloomington, IN 47405-1223 (United States)

    2011-07-04

    We discuss Hardy's paradox and weak measurements by using multitasking diagrams, which are introduced to illustrate the progress of quantum probabilities through the double interferometer system. We explain how Hardy's paradox is avoided and elaborate on the outcome of weak measurements in this context. -- Highlights: → Hardy's paradox explained and eliminated. → Weak measurements: what is really measured? → Multitasking diagrams: introduced and used to discuss quantum mechanical processes.

  17. Commutators of Integral Operators with Variable Kernels on Hardy ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Home; Journals; Proceedings – Mathematical Sciences; Volume 115; Issue 4. Commutators of Integral Operators with Variable Kernels on Hardy Spaces. Pu Zhang Kai Zhao. Volume 115 Issue 4 November 2005 pp 399-410 ... Keywords. Singular and fractional integrals; variable kernel; commutator; Hardy space.

  18. Compactness of the Hardy Operator and its Limiting Case

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gogatishvili, Amiran; Kufner, Alois; Persson, L. E.; Wedestig, A.

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 32, č. 1 (2006), s. 21-35 ISSN 0250-3255 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA201/03/0671 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : Hardy operator * compactness * Hardy´s inequality Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  19. Isolation of hardy and high-yielding mutants in citronella (Cymbopogon winterianus)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kole, C.R.

    1990-01-01

    Full text: Citronella bears an essential oil of medicinal and aromatic importance. But little has been done for its genetic improvement. It is a clonally propagated crop and the genetic variability is too low for effective selection. Besides, various reproductive anomalies limit the scope for cross-breeding. With this in view, a mutation induction experiment was conducted. This crop is mostly grown in marginal lands and hardy genotypes are required. Exposure of vegetative slips of an improved strain (KS-CW-S-I) to x-rays at 3,6 and 9kR paved the way for selection of 53 elite M 1 V 2 clumps on the basis of the yield component characters. Mass screening under minimal cultural practices in a drought-prone zone in Western Orissa (India) led to identification of 16 potentially hardy clones (OJC-12 from 3kR, OJC-1, 3, 11, 18 and 20 from 6kR and OJC-4, 5, 6, 15, 21, 22, 24, 26, 30 and 31 from 9kR). The clones were planted with 3 replications in mid-monsoon, established during the remaining months of monsoon and grown thereafter under minimal cultural practices, i.e. no manure, fertiliser, irrigation, weeding or plant protection. Data on yield of fresh leaf and oil extracted from fresh leaves were recorded at harvest 6 months after planting at 5 to 6 leaf stage. The results revealed a highly significant variation with regard to yield of both leaf and oil. Six clones out-yielded the mother line for leaf as well as oil, and two clones surpassed the mother line in leaf yield only. The performance of clone OJC-3 was particularly encouraging. With 1.25 kg/plant leaf, 9.63cc/plant oil it superseded the yield of the mother line and other cultivars of this species (all around 0.6 kg/plant leaf, 5cc/plant oil) even when grown with irrigation. (author)

  20. Some new scales of characterization of Hardy's inequality

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gogatishvili, Amiran; Kufner, Alois; Persson, L.E.

    2010-01-01

    Roč. 59, č. 1 (2010), s. 7-18 ISSN 1736-6046 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/05/2033; GA ČR GA201/08/0383 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : Hardy operator * Hardy's inequality Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.464, year: 2010 http://www.kirj.ee/16839/?tpl=1061&c_tpl=1064

  1. Thomas Hardy and His Readers: Contradictions of the Rebellious Serial Writer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adelina Sánchez Espinosa

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This contribution explores the relationship between Thomas Hardy and his contemporary readers from The Poor Man and the Lady, his first, unpublished, novel, to The Well- Beloved, his last one. It discovers a writer split into two, with Hardy, the artist, striving to cohabitate with Hardy-the serial writer for the three decades his career as a novelist lasted. In order to fully appreciate Hardy's novels as they have reached us nowadays, after the 1912 Wessex edition, we should focus on the contradictions between their initial manuscripts, their edited versions for the family magazines and their final reconstructions into volume forms. Although Hardy certainly wanted quick success with the Victorian masses he never let go of his "higher aspirations" to be received differently by a more select readership, even if this alternative reading had to be done between the lines at a later stage.

  2. Real-variable theory of Musielak-Orlicz Hardy spaces

    CERN Document Server

    Yang, Dachun; Ky, Luong Dang

    2017-01-01

    The main purpose of this book is to give a detailed and complete survey of recent progress related to the real-variable theory of Musielak–Orlicz Hardy-type function spaces, and to lay the foundations for further applications. The real-variable theory of function spaces has always been at the core of harmonic analysis. Recently, motivated by certain questions in analysis, some more general Musielak–Orlicz Hardy-type function spaces were introduced. These spaces are defined via growth functions which may vary in both the spatial variable and the growth variable. By selecting special growth functions, the resulting spaces may have subtler and finer structures, which are necessary in order to solve various endpoint or sharp problems. This book is written for graduate students and researchers interested in function spaces and, in particular, Hardy-type spaces.

  3. Hardiness and the response to stressful situations: Investigating mediating processes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Delahaij, R.; Gaillard, A.W.K.; Dam, K. van

    2010-01-01

    The present study investigated mediating processes that explain how hardiness influences the way people respond to a stressful situation. Coping style and coping self-efficacy were investigated as mediating variables. Using a longitudinal design, hardiness, coping style and coping self-efficacy, and

  4. Autumn frost hardiness in Norway spruce plus tree progeny and trees of the local and transferred provenances in central Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hannerz, Mats; Westin, Johan

    2005-09-01

    Reforestation with provenances from locations remote from the planting site (transferred provenances) or the progeny of trees of local provenances selected for superior form and vigor (plus trees) offer alternative means to increase yield over that obtained by the use of seed from unselected trees of the local provenance. Under Swedish conditions, Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) of certain transferred provenances generally has an advantage in productivity relative to the local provenance comparable to that of progeny of plus trees. The aim of this study was to explore the extent to which productivity gains achieved by provenance transfer or the use of plus tree progeny are associated with reductions in autumn frost hardiness, relative to that of trees of the local provenance. In a field trial with 19-year-old trees in central Sweden, bud hardiness was tested on four occasions during the autumn of 2002. Trees of the local provenance were compared with trees of a south Swedish provenance originating 3 degrees of latitude to the south, a Belarusian provenance and the progeny of plus trees of local origin. The Belarusian provenance was the least hardy and the local provenance the most hardy, with plus tree progeny and the south Swedish provenance being intermediate in hardiness. Both the Belarusian provenance and the plus tree progeny were significantly taller than trees of the other populations. Within provenances, tree height was negatively correlated with autumn frost hardiness. Among the plus tree progeny, however, no such correlation between tree height and autumn frost hardiness was found. It is concluded that although the gain in productivity achieved by provenance transfer from Belarus was comparable to that achieved by using the progeny of plus trees of the local provenance, the use of trees of the Belarus provenance involved an increased risk of autumn frost damage because of later hardening.

  5. Hadamard Multipliers and Abel Dual of Hardy Spaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paweł Mleczko

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper is devoted to the study of Hadamard multipliers of functions from the abstract Hardy classes generated by rearrangement invariant spaces. In particular the relation between the existence of such multiplier and the boundedness of the appropriate convolution operator on spaces of measurable functions is presented. As an application, the description of Hadamard multipliers into H∞ is given and the Abel type theorem for mentioned Hardy spaces is proved.

  6. Some higher order Hardy inequalities

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kufner, Alois; Kuliev, K.; Persson, L. E.

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 2012, Mar 26 (2012), s. 69 ISSN 1029-242X Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Hardy inequality Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.822, year: 2012 http://www.journalofinequalitiesandapplications.com/content/2012/1/69

  7. Relationship between Hardiness and Marital Satisfaction in Women with Breast Cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farideh Nabizadeh

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available Background: When a couple confronts cancer, there is a major impact on their psychosocial life. Marital life and satisfaction with that are important factors in the quality of life of breast cancer patient. The aim of this research was to predict marital satisfaction based on hardiness in women with breast cancerMethods: A total of 100 women with breast cancer participated in this study and completed the Kobasa Personal View Survey and ENRICH (evaluation and nurturing relationship issues, communication, and happiness Marital Satisfaction Scale. The study was conducted in Rasol Akrm Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and linear regression were used for data analysis.Results: The results showed a significant relationship between hardiness and marital satisfaction. Moreover, hardiness determined 13% of the variance of marital satisfaction.Conclusions: Hardiness as an efficient coping style in breast cancer is an important factor to increase perceived marital satisfaction in breast cancer. Therefore, healthcare professionals such as psycho-oncologists can promote resiliency in breast cancer patients by improving cognitive hardiness in their patients.

  8. [Cold hardiness of Pinus ponderosa, P. banksian and P. tabulaeformis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Yuehua; Zhou, Yongxue; Fan, Junfeng; Liu, Yingzhou; Pang, Kejia

    2006-08-01

    By the method of artificial freezing, this paper made a comparative study on the cold hardiness of Pinus ponderosa, P. banksiana and P. tabulaeformis, with their inherent mechanisms approached. The results showed that the cold hardiness of these three species was in the sequence of P. banksiana > P. tabulaeformis > P. ponderosa. P. banksiana had high bound water/free water ratio (7.0) and ABA content (164.3 microg x g(-1) FW) but low K+ (2450 microg x g(-1) DW) and soluble sugar (12.0%) , P. tabulaeformis had higher contents of ABA (95.8 microg x g(-1) FW), K+ (4538 microg x g(-1) DW) and soluble sugar (18.68%) but low bound water/free water ratio (2.58), while P. ponderosa had high soluble sugar content (18.05%) but low bound water/free water ratio (2.18) and K+ (2275 microg x g(-1) DW) and ABA (63.3 microg x g(-1) FW) contents. These differences might be the reasons resulting in the different cold hardiness of these three species. Low chlorophyll content and high carotenoid/chlorophyll ratio might also contribute to the cold hardiness of P. banksiana. Therefore, though the test species are all of cold hardiness, their inherent mechanisms may be different.

  9. Notice to nurserymen of the nameing and release for propagation of lufin white an american hardy hibiscus cultivar

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hibiscus laevis ‘LUFKIN WHITE’, a new hardy native ornamental hibiscus cultivar is recommended for trial by nurserymen and horticulturists as a summer flowering perennial landscape plant nationwide but is particularly adapted to conditions in the South. ‘LUFKIN WHITE’ was selected for its exception...

  10. The S-Transform on Hardy Spaces and Its Duals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunil Kumar Singh

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, continuity and boundedness results for the continuous S-transform in BMO and Hardy spaces are obtained. Furthermore, the continuous S-transform is also studied on the weighted BMO$_k$ and weighted Hardy spaces associated with a tempered weight function which was proposed by L. H\\"ormander in the study of the theory of partial differential equations.

  11. Commutators of integral operators with variable kernels on Hardy ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    [8] Coifman R R, Lions P L, Meyer Y and Semmes S, Compensated compactness and Hardy spaces, J. Math. Pure Appl. 72(3) (1993) 247–286. [9] Coifman R R, Rochberg R and Weiss G, Factorization theorems for Hardy spaces in several variable, Ann. Math. 103 (1976) 611–635. [10] Ding Y, Weak type bounds for a class ...

  12. Outer measures and weak type estimates of Hardy-Littlewood maximal operators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Terasawa Yutaka

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available We will introduce the times modified centered and uncentered Hardy-Littlewood maximal operators on nonhomogeneous spaces for . We will prove that the times modified centered Hardy-Littlewood maximal operator is weak type bounded with constant when if the Radon measure of the space has "continuity" in some sense. In the proof, we will use the outer measure associated with the Radon measure. We will also prove other results of Hardy-Littlewood maximal operators on homogeneous spaces and on the real line by using outer measures.

  13. The relationship of general health, hardiness and spiritual intelligence relationship in Iranian nurses.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fatemeh Akbarizadeh

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Nursing is one of the stressful jobs that affect nurse's well-being. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between spiritual intelligence, hardiness and well-being among Iranian nurses.Samples of this cross- sectional study selected by Randomized stratified sampling, 125 nurses who have been working in different wards of Bushehr university hospitals. Data were collected using spiritual intelligence, hardiness, well-being and demographic characteristics questionnaires. Correlation, t-test, ANOVA, Tukey and regression analysis were applied.The results revealed a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and hardiness, spiritual intelligence and well-being, Hardiness and well-being. It also showed that among the demographic characteristics (age, gender, working ward, marital status, job experiences, and education working ward significantly correlated with spiritual intelligence.Improvement of spiritual intelligence and reinforcement of hardiness could help increase the well-being of nurses.

  14. The Adolescent Condition in Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nunan, Rosanna

    In The Woodlanders, Hardy examines the intersections between adolescence as scientific fact and adolescence as utilitarian economic construction. Hardy posits that the emergence of adolescence as a social category provides an opportunity for further, excessive control of young women in a patriarchal society when science is taken at its word, but, paradoxically, also opens up a space for a new kind of freedom and rebellion when the adolescent condition of nineteenth-century scientific theorists is seized for the very subversive qualities which the Victorians oppose.

  15. Genetic architecture of winter hardiness and frost tolerance in triticale.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenxin Liu

    Full Text Available Abiotic stress experienced by autumn-sown crops during winter is of great economic importance as it can have a severe negative impact on yield. In this study, we investigated the genetic architecture of winter hardiness and frost tolerance in triticale. To this end, we used a large mapping population of 647 DH lines phenotyped for both traits in combination with genome-wide marker data. Employing multiple-line cross QTL mapping, we identified nine main effect QTL for winter hardiness and frost tolerance of which six were overlapping between both traits. Three major QTL were identified on chromosomes 5A, 1B and 5R. In addition, an epistasis scan revealed the contribution of epistasis to the genetic architecture of winter hardiness and frost tolerance in triticale. Taken together, our results show that winter hardiness and frost tolerance are complex traits that can be improved by phenotypic selection, but also that genomic approaches hold potential for a knowledge-based improvement of these important traits in elite triticale germplasm.

  16. HARDI denoising using nonlocal means on S2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuurstra, Alan; Dolui, Sudipto; Michailovich, Oleg

    2012-02-01

    Diffusion MRI (dMRI) is a unique imaging modality for in vivo delineation of the anatomical structure of white matter in the brain. In particular, high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) is a specific instance of dMRI which is known to excel in detection of multiple neural fibers within a single voxel. Unfortunately, the angular resolution of HARDI is known to be inversely proportional to SNR, which makes the problem of denoising of HARDI data be of particular practical importance. Since HARDI signals are effectively band-limited, denoising can be accomplished by means of linear filtering. However, the spatial dependency of diffusivity in brain tissue makes it impossible to find a single set of linear filter parameters which is optimal for all types of diffusion signals. Hence, adaptive filtering is required. In this paper, we propose a new type of non-local means (NLM) filtering which possesses the required adaptivity property. As opposed to similar methods in the field, however, the proposed NLM filtering is applied in the spherical domain of spatial orientations. Moreover, the filter uses an original definition of adaptive weights, which are designed to be invariant to both spatial rotations as well as to a particular sampling scheme in use. As well, we provide a detailed description of the proposed filtering procedure, its efficient implementation, as well as experimental results with synthetic data. We demonstrate that our filter has substantially better adaptivity as compared to a number of alternative methods.

  17. Dispositional Hardiness and Women's Well-Being Relating to Gender Discrimination: The Role of Minimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Mindi D.; Dion, Kenneth L.

    2003-01-01

    Three studies examined whether personality-based hardiness would be associated with mental health benefits in contexts of gender discrimination. Hardy women encountering both a laboratory simulation and a hypothetical scenario of discrimination showed greater self-esteem and less negative affect than low hardy women. However, these benefits were…

  18. Hardy personality and burnout syndrome among nursing students in three Brazilian universities-an analytic study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    da Silva, Rodrigo Marques; Goulart, Carolina Tonini; Lopes, Luis Felipe Dias; Serrano, Patrícia Maria; Costa, Ana Lucia Siqueira; de Azevedo Guido, Laura

    2014-03-30

    Nursing students may exhibit the characteristics of resistance to stress, such as hardiness, which can reduce the risk of burnout. However, we found only one published study about these phenomena among nursing students. Thus, we investigated the association between hardiness and burnout in such students. An analytic, cross-sectional study was conducted among 570 nursing students from three Brazilian universities. Data were collected relating to sociodemographic characteristics, hardiness, and burnout, which we analyzed using inferential statistics. We observed that 64.04% of nursing students in the sample had a high level of emotional exhaustion, 35.79% had a high level of cynicism, and 87.72% had a low level of professional efficacy: these are dimensions of burnout. We also found that 48.77% had a high level of control, 61.40% a high level of commitment, and 35.44% a high level of challenge: these are dimensions of hardiness. Only 24.74% of the students experienced burnout, and 21.93% met the criteria for a hardy personality. There was a statistically significant difference between the frequency of hardiness and burnout (p = 0.033), with 68.00% of hardy students not exhibiting burnout. Although nursing students live with educational stressors, burnout was not preponderant in our sample students; this may be linked to hardiness. Thus, given its benefits to student life and health, we recommend the development of strategies to promote hardiness among nursing students.

  19. Hardy personality and burnout syndrome among nursing students in three Brazilian universities—an analytic study

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-01-01

    Background Nursing students may exhibit the characteristics of resistance to stress, such as hardiness, which can reduce the risk of burnout. However, we found only one published study about these phenomena among nursing students. Thus, we investigated the association between hardiness and burnout in such students. Methods An analytic, cross-sectional study was conducted among 570 nursing students from three Brazilian universities. Data were collected relating to sociodemographic characteristics, hardiness, and burnout, which we analyzed using inferential statistics. Results We observed that 64.04% of nursing students in the sample had a high level of emotional exhaustion, 35.79% had a high level of cynicism, and 87.72% had a low level of professional efficacy: these are dimensions of burnout. We also found that 48.77% had a high level of control, 61.40% a high level of commitment, and 35.44% a high level of challenge: these are dimensions of hardiness. Only 24.74% of the students experienced burnout, and 21.93% met the criteria for a hardy personality. There was a statistically significant difference between the frequency of hardiness and burnout (p = 0.033), with 68.00% of hardy students not exhibiting burnout. Conclusions Although nursing students live with educational stressors, burnout was not preponderant in our sample students; this may be linked to hardiness. Thus, given its benefits to student life and health, we recommend the development of strategies to promote hardiness among nursing students. PMID:24678676

  20. Hardiness and the Big Five Personality Traits among Chinese University Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Li-fang

    2011-01-01

    This study examines the construct of hardiness with the Big Five personality traits among 362 Chinese university students. Participants in the study responded to the Dispositional Hardiness Scale (Bartone, Ursano, Wright, & Ingraham, 1989) and the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (Costa & McCrae, 1992). Results indicate that personality…

  1. Pengaruh Hardiness terhadap Employee Engagement pada PNS Kementerian Pekerjaan Umum

    OpenAIRE

    Yessica

    2017-01-01

    131301101 Employee engagement merupakan keadaan positif yang muncul bersama terkait dengan pekerjaan yang berhubungan dengan kesejahteraan yang ditandai dengan vigour, dedication, dan absorption. Salah satu faktor untuk mempengaruhi employee engagement adalah kepribadian, hardiness. Hardiness terdiri dari commitment, control,dan challenge dinilai sebagai salah satu bentuk kepribadian yang baik saat menghadapi keadaan yang penuh tekanan atau sumber stres. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk meli...

  2. Frost hardiness of tree species is independent of phenology and macroclimatic niche.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hofmann, M; Bruelheide, H

    2015-03-01

    The differences in timing in bud burst between species have been interpreted as an adaptation to late frost events in spring. Thus, it has been suggested that the degree of frost susceptibility of leaves is species-specific and depends on the species' phenology and geographic distribution range. To test for relationships between frost tolerance and phenology as well as between frost tolerance and distribution range across Central European tree species, we studied the frost hardiness of closed buds before bud burst and of freshly opened buds at the time of bud burst. We hypothesized that species with early bud burst and species distributed in eastern and northern areas were more frost tolerant than species with late bud burst and species distributed in western and southern areas. Frost hardiness was estimated by exposing twigs to 11 frost temperatures between -4 °C and -80 °C and by assessing tissue damage by the electrolyte leakage method. In contrast to our hypotheses, neither frost hardiness of closed buds nor frost hardiness of freshly opened buds were related to any variable describing species' macroclimatic niche. Furthermore, frost hardiness of freshly opened buds did not differ among species. Thus, the investigated species with early bud burst take higher risks of frost damage than the species with late bud bursts. These findings indicate that frost hardiness might not play the key role in limiting the geographic distribution ranges previously anticipated.

  3. Problem-solving skills and perceived stress among undergraduate students: The moderating role of hardiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdollahi, Abbas; Abu Talib, Mansor; Carlbring, Per; Harvey, Richard; Yaacob, Siti Nor; Ismail, Zanariah

    2016-06-01

    This study was designed to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills, hardiness, and perceived stress and to test the moderating role of hardiness in the relationship between problem-solving skills and perceived stress among 500 undergraduates from Malaysian public universities. The analyses showed that undergraduates with poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and approach-avoidance style were more likely to report perceived stress. Hardiness moderated the relationships between problem-solving skills and perceived stress. These findings reinforce the importance of moderating role of hardiness as an influencing factor that explains how problem-solving skills affect perceived stress among undergraduates.

  4. The Effects of Cognitive Hardiness on Stress, Health, Performance, and Cardiovascular/Neuroendocrine Function

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Drummond, Johathan

    1997-01-01

    .... Hardiness has also been thought to exert main effects on health and performance outcomes. In Study 1, relationships between hardiness, perceived stress, depression, and academic performance were investigated...

  5. A Note on Generalized Hardy-Sobolev Inequalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T. V. Anoop

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available We are concerned with finding a class of weight functions g so that the following generalized Hardy-Sobolev inequality holds: ∫Ωgu2≤C∫Ω|∇u|2,   u∈H01(Ω, for some C>0, where Ω is a bounded domain in ℝ2. By making use of Muckenhoupt condition for the one-dimensional weighted Hardy inequalities, we identify a rearrangement invariant Banach function space so that the previous integral inequality holds for all weight functions in it. For weights in a subspace of this space, we show that the best constant in the previous inequality is attained. Our method gives an alternate way of proving the Moser-Trudinger embedding and its refinement due to Hansson.

  6. Problem-Solving Skills Appraisal Mediates Hardiness and Suicidal Ideation among Malaysian Undergraduate Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdollahi, Abbas; Talib, Mansor Abu; Yaacob, Siti Nor; Ismail, Zanariah

    2015-01-01

    Objectives Recent evidence suggests that suicidal ideation is increased among university students, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicidal ideation among university students. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills appraisal, hardiness, and suicidal ideation among university students. In addition, this study was conducted to examine problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) as a potential mediator between hardiness and suicidal ideation. Methods The participants consisted of 500 undergraduate students from Malaysian public universities. Results Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) estimated that undergraduate students with lower hardiness, poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and avoiding style was associated with higher suicidal ideation. Problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) partially mediated the relationship between hardiness and suicidal ideation. Conclusion These findings underline the importance of studying mediating processes that explain how hardiness affects suicidal ideation. PMID:25830229

  7. Problem-solving skills appraisal mediates hardiness and suicidal ideation among malaysian undergraduate students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdollahi, Abbas; Talib, Mansor Abu; Yaacob, Siti Nor; Ismail, Zanariah

    2015-01-01

    Recent evidence suggests that suicidal ideation is increased among university students, it is essential to increase our knowledge concerning the etiology of suicidal ideation among university students. This study was conducted to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills appraisal, hardiness, and suicidal ideation among university students. In addition, this study was conducted to examine problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) as a potential mediator between hardiness and suicidal ideation. The participants consisted of 500 undergraduate students from Malaysian public universities. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) estimated that undergraduate students with lower hardiness, poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and avoiding style was associated with higher suicidal ideation. Problem-solving skills appraisal (including the three components of problem-solving confidence, approach-avoidance style, and personal control of emotion) partially mediated the relationship between hardiness and suicidal ideation. These findings underline the importance of studying mediating processes that explain how hardiness affects suicidal ideation.

  8. Weighted iterated Hardy-type inequalities

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gogatishvili, Amiran; Mustafayev, R.Ch.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 20, č. 3 (2017), s. 683-728 ISSN 1331-4343 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-14743S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : quasilinear operators * iterated Hardy inequalities * weights Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 0.603, year: 2016 http://files.ele-math.com/preprints/mia-20-45.pdf

  9. Chlorophyll fluorescence as a parameter for frost hardiness in winter wheat. A comparison with other hardiness parameters.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Clement, JMAM; vanHasselt, PR

    1996-01-01

    Frost hardiness of winter wheat leaves (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Urban) was measured during an eight weeks hardening period using chlorophyll fluorescence. Determination of frost induced damage after freezing, measured as the decrease of photochemical capacity of photosystem II (F-V/F-M =

  10. Multilevel Deficiency of White Matter Connectivity Networks in Alzheimer's Disease: A Diffusion MRI Study with DTI and HARDI Models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Tao; Shi, Feng; Jin, Yan; Yap, Pew-Thian; Wee, Chong-Yaw; Zhang, Jianye; Yang, Cece; Li, Xia; Xiao, Shifu; Shen, Dinggang

    2016-01-01

    Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in elderly people. It is an irreversible and progressive brain disease. In this paper, we utilized diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to detect abnormal topological organization of white matter (WM) structural networks. We compared the differences between WM connectivity characteristics at global, regional, and local levels in 26 patients with probable AD and 16 normal control (NC) elderly subjects, using connectivity networks constructed with the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) model and the high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) model, respectively. At the global level, we found that the WM structural networks of both AD and NC groups had a small-world topology; however, the AD group showed a significant decrease in both global and local efficiency, but an increase in clustering coefficient and the average shortest path length. We further found that the AD patients had significantly decreased nodal efficiency at the regional level, as well as weaker connections in multiple local cortical and subcortical regions, such as precuneus, temporal lobe, hippocampus, and thalamus. The HARDI model was found to be more advantageous than the DTI model, as it was more sensitive to the deficiencies in AD at all of the three levels.

  11. Military Applications of Curved Focal Plane Arrays Developed by the HARDI Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    considered one of the main founders of geometrical optics, modern photography, and cinematography . Among his inventions are the Petzval portrait lens...still be a problem. B. HARDI Program/Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Task 1. HARDI Program State-of-the- art cameras could be improved by

  12. 'Lufkin Red' and 'Lufkin White' winter-hardy hibiscus (Hibiscus x laevis All.)

    Science.gov (United States)

    USDA ARS announces the release of ‘Lufkin Red’ and ‘Lufkin White’ winter-hardy native hibiscuses.Both clones have desirable horticultural traits in combination with demonstrated high levels of field resistance to the leaf spot complex that is problematic on winter-hardy hibiscus clones in areas wit...

  13. Three weights higher order Hardy type inequalities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aigerim A. Kalybay

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigate the following three weights higher order Hardy type inequality (0.1 ‖g‖q,u≤  C‖Dρkg‖p,v where Dρi denotes the following weighted differential operator: {dig(tdti,i=0,1,...,m−1,di−mdti−m(p(tdmg(tdtm,i=m,m+1,...,k, for a weight function ρ(⋅. A complete description of the weights u, v and ρ so that (0.1 holds was given in [4] for the case 1Hardy type inequality (for a Volterra type operator, which we first state and prove.

  14. Hardiness in relation to organisational commitment in the Human Resource Management field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadia Ferreira

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Orientation: Employees’ hardiness is increasingly recognised as an aspect of their well-being and feelings of career success. Psychological well-being and feelings of subjective career success have positive implications for the motivation, satisfaction, performance and commitment of young talented staff.Research purpose: The study empirically investigated the relationship between an individual’s hardiness (measured by the Personal Views Survey II [PVS-II] and organisational commitment (measured by the Organisational Commitment Scale.Motivation for the study: Research on an individual’s hardiness profile as an aspect of their career well-being and success and how these attributes influence their psychological attachment to the organisation, is needed to guide human resource career development support practices aimed at retaining valuable staff.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative survey was conducted on a convenience sample of predominantly Black (92.2% and female (71% employed adults (N = 355 at managerial and staff levels in the human resource management field.Main findings: Correlational and multiple regression analyses revealed a number of significant relationships between the two variables.Practical/managerial implications: Managers and human resource practitioners need to recognise how people’s hardiness relates to their sense of psychological attachment to the organisation. Organisations concerned with the retention and well-being of their equity staff members need to find a way to enhance and develop their hardiness and commitment.Contribution/value-add: The research contributes new insights into and knowledge of the factors that influence their employees’ hardiness and how these relate to their organisational commitment. The results may be used to inform career development support interventions that aim to increase employees’ sense of career well-being and success.

  15. Hardy type inequalities with kernels: The current status and some new results

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kufner, Alois; Persson, L. E.; Samko, N.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 290, č. 1 (2017), s. 57-65 ISSN 0025-584X Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Hardy operators with kernels * Hardy type inequalities * new scales of characterizations Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 0.742, year: 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mana.201500363

  16. Multilevel Deficiency of White Matter Connectivity Networks in Alzheimer’s Disease: A Diffusion MRI Study with DTI and HARDI Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Wang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Alzheimer’s disease (AD is the most common form of dementia in elderly people. It is an irreversible and progressive brain disease. In this paper, we utilized diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI to detect abnormal topological organization of white matter (WM structural networks. We compared the differences between WM connectivity characteristics at global, regional, and local levels in 26 patients with probable AD and 16 normal control (NC elderly subjects, using connectivity networks constructed with the diffusion tensor imaging (DTI model and the high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI model, respectively. At the global level, we found that the WM structural networks of both AD and NC groups had a small-world topology; however, the AD group showed a significant decrease in both global and local efficiency, but an increase in clustering coefficient and the average shortest path length. We further found that the AD patients had significantly decreased nodal efficiency at the regional level, as well as weaker connections in multiple local cortical and subcortical regions, such as precuneus, temporal lobe, hippocampus, and thalamus. The HARDI model was found to be more advantageous than the DTI model, as it was more sensitive to the deficiencies in AD at all of the three levels.

  17. Hardy inequality on time scales and its application to half-linear dynamic equations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Řehák Pavel

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available A time-scale version of the Hardy inequality is presented, which unifies and extends well-known Hardy inequalities in the continuous and in the discrete setting. An application in the oscillation theory of half-linear dynamic equations is given.

  18. Some new iterated Hardy type inequalities

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gogatishvili, Amiran; Mustafayev, R.Ch.; Persson, L.E.

    2012-01-01

    Roč. 2012, Oct 11 (2012), s. 734194 ISSN 2090-8997 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/08/0383 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : iterated Hardy inequalities * discretization * weights Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.500, year: 2012 http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jfsa/2012/734194/cta/

  19. Hamilton and Hardy: Mentoring and Friendship in the Service of Occupational Health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, Marianne

    This article explores the mentoring relationship between Alice Hamilton and Harriet Hardy, two female physician-researchers who had a tremendous impact on the development of the field of occupational health in the United States during the 20th century. The article relies on letters the women wrote to each other. Hamilton, the elder, supported and furthered Hardy's career by asking her to coauthor the second edition of a seminal occupational health text. After beginning this intellectual collaboration, Hamilton remained a mentor to Hardy, and a decades-long friendship ensued. The article explores their relationship within the historical, political, and social context in which the women worked and made remarkable contributions to public health.

  20. [Hardy personality, self-efficacy, and general health in nursing professionals of intensive and emergency services].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ríos Rísquez, María Isabel; Sánchez Meca, Julio; Godoy Fernández, Carmen

    2010-11-01

    In this study, the predictive power of hardy personality and generalized self-efficacy on general health perception was investigated in a sample of nursing personnel working in emergency and intensive care services. A cross-sectional retrospective design was used, and the following measurement instruments were applied: a sociodemographic and work questionnaire, Goldberg's GHQ-28 Health Questionnaire, the Baessler and Schwarzer General Self-efficacy Questionnaire, and the Hardy Personality Subscale of Moreno's Nursing Burnout Questionnaire (CDPE). The results revealed a positive and statistically significant relationship between the individual variables of generalized self-efficacy and hardy personality. A canonical correlation analysis carried out on the psychological distress symptoms with self-efficacy and hardy personality as predictor variables, led us to emphasize the relevance of the construct total hardy personality as a predictor and, consequently, as a protective factor against the onset of psychological distress symptoms in the sample of professionals studied. Lastly, the implications of the results for clinical practice are discussed.

  1. The Prehistory of the Hardy Inequality

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kufner, Alois; Maligranda, L.; Persson, L.E.

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 113, č. 8 (2006), s. 715-732 ISSN 0002-9890 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA1019305 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : Hardy´s inequality * Hilbert´s inequality * Riesz * Landau Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.237, year: 2006

  2. Some new generalizations of Hardy's integral inequalities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oguntuase, James Adedayo

    2002-07-01

    In this paper, some new generalizations of Hardy's integral inequalities are obtained. These inequalities on the one hand generalize and on the other hand improve some existing results by Bicheng et al. [J. Math. Anal. Appl. 217(1998), 321-327]. (author)

  3. Hardiness in relation to organisational commitment in the Human Resource Management field

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nadia Ferreira

    2012-09-01

    Research purpose: The study empirically investigated the relationship between an individual’s hardiness (measured by the Personal Views Survey II [PVS-II] and organisational commitment (measured by the Organisational Commitment Scale. Motivation for the study: Research on an individual’s hardiness profile as an aspect of their career well-being and success and how these attributes influence their psychological attachment to the organisation, is needed to guide human resource career development support practices aimed at retaining valuable staff. Research design, approach and method: A quantitative survey was conducted on a convenience sample of predominantly Black (92.2% and female (71% employed adults (N = 355 at managerial and staff levels in the human resource management field. Main findings: Correlational and multiple regression analyses revealed a number of significant relationships between the two variables. Practical/managerial implications: Managers and human resource practitioners need to recognise how people’s hardiness relates to their sense of psychological attachment to the organisation. Organisations concerned with the retention and well-being of their equity staff members need to find a way to enhance and develop their hardiness and commitment. Contribution/value-add: The research contributes new insights into and knowledge of the factors that influence their employees’ hardiness and how these relate to their organisational commitment. The results may be used to inform career development support interventions that aim to increase employees’ sense of career well-being and success.

  4. Dormancy and cold hardiness transitions in wine grape cultivars Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dormancy and cold hardiness influence grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) susceptibility to cold injury, which is a major cause of economic loss in high latitude growing regions. The objectives of this study were to compare dormancy and cold hardiness transitions in wine grape cultivars considered more (C...

  5. Validation of a Newly Developed Instrument Establishing Links Between Motivation and Academic Hardiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamtsios, Spiridon; Karagiannopoulou, Evangelia

    2016-02-01

    The purpose of the study was to establish the reliability, the structural and the convergent validity of the "Dimensions of Academic Hardiness Questionnaire" for late elementary school children. A sample of children (N = 1264) aged 10-12 years completed the questionnaire and the "Athens Coping Scale". Multiple fit indices provided support that the 9-factor model had a good fit to the data. Reliability coefficients ranged from .68 to .83. The study provided also preliminary evidence of convergent validity of the "Dimensions of Academic Hardiness" scores with one theoretically related measure, the "Athens Coping Scale". The results enrich the notion of Academic Hardiness in late elementary school children as the role of awareness and the role of children's previous experiences has been distinguished. The relation between the "Dimensions of Academic Hardiness" and achievement goal orientations in children learning is also noted. These findings are discussed in the context of the relevant literature.

  6. Global Activities and Plant Survival

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bandick, Roger

    2014-01-01

    the highest exit rates. Moreover, the exit rates of globally engaged plants seem to be unaffected by increased foreign presence, whereas there appears to be a negative impact on the survival rates of non-exporting non-MNE plants. Finally, the result reveals that the survival ratio of plants of acquired...

  7. Salt Lake City's peeti IUFRO maailmakongressi / Hardi Tullus

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Tullus, Hardi, 1956-

    2014-01-01

    Kongress toimus 6.-11. oktoobrini 2014. Eestit esindasid viis metsateadlast: Hardi Tullus, Tea Tullus ja Reimo Lutter maaülikoolist, Tartu Ülikooli vanemteadur Arvo Tullus ning keskkonnaagentuuri metsaseire osakonnajuhataja Kalle Karoles

  8. Iterated Hardy-type inequalities involving suprema

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gogatishvili, Amiran; Mustafayev, R.Ch.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 20, č. 4 (2017), s. 901-927 ISSN 1331-4343 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-14743S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : quasilinear operators * iterated Hardy inequalities * weights Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics Impact factor: 0.603, year: 2016 http://files.ele-math.com/preprints/mia-20-57.pdf

  9. Do invasive alien plants benefit more from global environmental change than native plants?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yanjie; Oduor, Ayub M O; Zhang, Zhen; Manea, Anthony; Tooth, Ifeanna M; Leishman, Michelle R; Xu, Xingliang; van Kleunen, Mark

    2017-08-01

    Invasive alien plant species threaten native biodiversity, disrupt ecosystem functions and can cause large economic damage. Plant invasions have been predicted to further increase under ongoing global environmental change. Numerous case studies have compared the performance of invasive and native plant species in response to global environmental change components (i.e. changes in mean levels of precipitation, temperature, atmospheric CO 2 concentration or nitrogen deposition). Individually, these studies usually involve low numbers of species and therefore the results cannot be generalized. Therefore, we performed a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis to assess whether there is a general pattern of differences in invasive and native plant performance under each component of global environmental change. We compiled a database of studies that reported performance measures for 74 invasive alien plant species and 117 native plant species in response to one of the above-mentioned global environmental change components. We found that elevated temperature and CO 2 enrichment increased the performance of invasive alien plants more strongly than was the case for native plants. Invasive alien plants tended to also have a slightly stronger positive response to increased N deposition and increased precipitation than native plants, but these differences were not significant (N deposition: P = 0.051; increased precipitation: P = 0.679). Invasive alien plants tended to have a slightly stronger negative response to decreased precipitation than native plants, although this difference was also not significant (P = 0.060). So while drought could potentially reduce plant invasion, increases in the four other components of global environmental change considered, particularly global warming and atmospheric CO 2 enrichment, may further increase the spread of invasive plants in the future. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  10. Problem-solving skills and hardiness as protective factors against stress in Iranian nurses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abdollahi, Abbas; Talib, Mansor Abu; Yaacob, Siti Nor; Ismail, Zanariah

    2014-02-01

    Nursing is a stressful occupation, even when compared with other health professions; therefore, it is necessary to advance our knowledge about the protective factors that can help reduce stress among nurses. The present study sought to investigate the associations among problem-solving skills and hardiness with perceived stress in nurses. The participants, 252 nurses from six private hospitals in Tehran, completed the Personal Views Survey, the Perceived Stress Scale, and the Problem-Solving Inventory. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to analyse the data and answer the research hypotheses. As expected, greater hardiness was associated with low levels of perceived stress, and nurses low in perceived stress were more likely to be considered approachable, have a style that relied on their own sense of internal personal control, and demonstrate effective problem-solving confidence. These findings reinforce the importance of hardiness and problem-solving skills as protective factors against perceived stress among nurses, and could be important in training future nurses so that hardiness ability and problem-solving skills can be imparted, allowing nurses to have more ability to control their perceived stress.

  11. The Relationship between Resilience and Hardiness in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Yazd

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N Mazlom Bafroe

    2015-05-01

    Conclusions: Regarding the positive relationship between hardiness and resilience, it could be expected that employing proper treatment in order to increase resilience and hardiness in diabetes, will lead to a decrease in perception of psychological problems, as well as an increase in quality of life.

  12. rights reserved Generalization and Modification of Hardy-Littlewood

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ADOWIE PERE

    2018-03-20

    Mar 20, 2018 ... everywhere of limits is the Lebesgue differentiation theorem: = lim. → ... norm of the centered Hardy-Littlewood maximal operator for all 0< ..... As in the one dimensional case this definition ... Weighted inequalities for the one-.

  13. An examination of hardiness throughout the sport-injury process: a qualitative follow-up study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wadey, Ross; Evans, Lynne; Hanton, Sheldon; Neil, Rich

    2012-11-01

    This qualitative follow-up study aimed to enhance the interpretability and meaningfulness of the findings that emerged from a quantitative study that explored the effect of hardiness on the prediction of, and response to, sport injury (i.e., Wadey, Evans, Hanton, & Neil, 2012). Using theory-based and maximum-variation sampling to contextualize and provide an in-depth understanding of the previous findings, the participants comprised a purposeful sample of 10 athletes from the quantitative study (M age = 21.7; SD= 1.06). Data were derived through semi-structured interviews, and analysed and displayed using composite sequence analysis (Miles & Huberman, 1994). The findings extended Wadey et al.'s (2012) study by identifying the perceived mechanisms by which athletes high and low in hardiness exacerbated or attenuated the impact of pre-injury negative major life events (i.e., a significant predictor of sport injury) and post-injury responses. Specifically, the findings demonstrate that athletes high in hardiness possessed a refined repertoire of problem- and emotion-focused coping strategies that they used pre- and post-injury. Those athletes low in hardiness used avoidance coping strategies that had long-term negative implications. These findings have important implications for the structure, timing, and content of hardiness interventions that aim to reduce rates of injury occurrence and expedite injured athletes' return to competitive sport. ©2012 The British Psychological Society.

  14. Relationship between Psychological Hardiness and Social Support with Adaptation: A Study on Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N hasan neghad

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Psychological hardiness is a personal factor and social support is regarded as an environmental factor that can facilitate adjustment to disease. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between adaptation with psychological hardiness and social support in individuals with Multiple sclerosis (MS. Methods: Seventy two females with MS and 25 males with MSwere selected through randomized sampling from two MS centers. Main variables of the study including adaptation, psychological hardiness, and social supportwere assessed respectively by Adaptation Inventory, Personal Attitudes Survey, and Social Support Questionnaire. Results: Spearman correlation coefficients revealed that there are significant relationships between adaptation and psychological hardiness (p<0.0001, as well as between adaptation and social support (p<0.0001. In addition, Multiple linear Regression showed that psychological hardiness (β= -0.483 and social support (β= -0.240 can explain 35/1% of adaptation variance in individuals with MS. Psychological hardinessproved to have a more important role in adaptation of individuals with MS. Conclusion: The study data demonstrated that personal factors like psychological hardiness and environmental factors such as social support can predict adjustment in individuals with MS. In order to clarify mechanisms of these factors on adaptation in individuals with MS, morelongitudinal and experimental studiesare required. These results are alsoapplicable in designing therapeutic programs for individuals with MS.

  15. Global Change Effects on Plant-Soil Interactions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dam, Marie

    of this dissertation has been to determine how soil food web structure and function is affected when the quantity and quality of plant input is altered under global change. By studying the abundance and composition of soil organisms, particularly those in the rhizosphere, closely associated with living plants, we...... (Paper III). Furthermore, by way of meta-analysis, the role of organisms in global change effects on ecosystem function is modelled (Paper IV). Among CO2, warming and summer drought, CO2 is the factor most consistently impacting soil organisms. CO2 increases abundance of microorganisms and nematodes...... suggest that not only the global change effects on established ecosystems, but also the global change effects on plant community composition as well as land use management may determine the composition and function of soil food webs in the future....

  16. Hardiness, psychosocial factors and shift work tolerance among nurses - a 2-year follow-up study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saksvik-Lehouillier, Ingvild; Bjorvatn, Bjørn; Magerøy, Nils; Pallesen, Ståle

    2016-08-01

    To examine the predictive power of the subfactors of hardiness (commitment, control and challenge) on shift work tolerance (measured with sleepiness, fatigue, anxiety and depression) over 2 years in nurses working shifts. We also investigated the direct effects of psychosocial variables such as role conflict, social support and fair leadership on shift work tolerance, as well as their moderating role on the relationship between hardiness and shift work tolerance. Several scholars have discussed the role of individual differences and psychosocial variables in predicting shift work tolerance. The conclusions are not clear. Longitudinal questionnaire study. A sample of Norwegian nurses employed in shift work including nights participated in this longitudinal questionnaire study: 1877 at baseline, 1228 at 1-year follow-up and 659 nurses at 2-year follow-up. Data were collected in three waves, first wave in 2008 and third in 2011 and were analysed with a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses. We found that the subfactor commitment could predict fatigue over 1 year and anxiety and depression over 2 years. Challenge could predict anxiety over 1 year. Control was unrelated to shift work intolerance. Hardiness did not predict sleepiness. Social support, role conflict and fair leadership were important for some aspects of shift work tolerance; however, hardiness seemed to be more eminent for shift work tolerance than the psychosocial variables. Social support moderated the relationship between hardiness and shift work tolerance to some degree, but this interaction was weak. Hardiness can to some degree predict shift work tolerance over 2 years among nurses. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  17. The Hardy inequality with boundary or intermediate conditions

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kufner, Alois

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 8, č. 2 (2017), s. 105-109 ISSN 2077-9879 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Hardy's inequality * boundary conditions Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics http://www.mathnet.ru/ php /archive.phtml?wshow=paper&jrnid=emj&paperid=259&option_lang=eng

  18. The Hardy inequality with boundary or intermediate conditions

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kufner, Alois

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 8, č. 2 (2017), s. 105-109 ISSN 2077-9879 Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Hardy's inequality * boundary conditions Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics OBOR OECD: Pure mathematics http://www.mathnet.ru/php/archive.phtml?wshow=paper&jrnid=emj&paperid=259&option_lang=eng

  19. Rater Reliability of the Hardy Classification for Pituitary Adenomas in the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Era.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mooney, Michael A; Hardesty, Douglas A; Sheehy, John P; Bird, C Roger; Chapple, Kristina; White, William L; Little, Andrew S

    2017-10-01

    Objectives  The Hardy classification is used to classify pituitary tumors for clinical and research purposes. The scale was developed using lateral skull radiographs and encephalograms, and its reliability has not been evaluated in the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) era. Design  Fifty preoperative MRI scans of biopsy-proven pituitary adenomas using the sellar invasion and suprasellar extension components of the Hardy scale were reviewed. Setting  This study was a cohort study set at a single institution. Participants  There were six independent raters. Main Outcome Measures  The main outcome measures of this study were interrater reliability, intrarater reliability, and percent agreement. Results  Overall interrater reliability of both Hardy subscales on MRI was strong. However, reliability of the intermediate scores was weak, and percent agreement among raters was poor (12-16%) using the full scales. Dichotomizing the scale into clinically useful groups maintained strong interrater reliability for the sellar invasion scale and increased the percent agreement for both scales. Conclusion  This study raises important questions about the reliability of the original Hardy classification. Editing the measure to a clinically relevant dichotomous scale simplifies the rating process and may be useful for preoperative tumor characterization in the MRI era. Future research studies should use the dichotomized Hardy scale (sellar invasion Grades 0-III versus Grade IV, suprasellar extension Types 0-C versus Type D).

  20. Weighted local Hardy spaces associated with operators

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    RUMING GONG

    2018-04-24

    5 days ago ... Studies 116 (1985) (Amsterdam: North Holland). [12] Gong R M and Yan L X, Littlewood–Paley and spectral multipliers on weighted L p spaces, J. Geom. Anal. 24 (2014) 873–900. [13] Gong R M, Li J and Yan L X, A local version of Hardy spaces associated with operators on metric spaces, Sci. China Math.

  1. Are Optimistic Repatriates More Hardy and Resilient?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-04-05

    buffering effect of hardiness is shown in decreasing mental and physical illness symptoms, whether these be self-reported or more objectively measured...Repatriated Prisoners of War (RPWs). Optimism is associated with increased positive psychological health in those afflicted by extreme trauma or illness ...expectancies of optimists lead to more effective problem solving skills with fewer adverse health consequences . Optimistic people persistently

  2. Uncertainty visualization in HARDI based on ensembles of ODFs

    KAUST Repository

    Jiao, Fangxiang; Phillips, Jeff M.; Gur, Yaniv; Johnson, Chris R.

    2012-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a new and accurate technique for uncertainty analysis and uncertainty visualization based on fiber orientation distribution function (ODF) glyphs, associated with high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI). Our visualization applies volume rendering techniques to an ensemble of 3D ODF glyphs, which we call SIP functions of diffusion shapes, to capture their variability due to underlying uncertainty. This rendering elucidates the complex heteroscedastic structural variation in these shapes. Furthermore, we quantify the extent of this variation by measuring the fraction of the volume of these shapes, which is consistent across all noise levels, the certain volume ratio. Our uncertainty analysis and visualization framework is then applied to synthetic data, as well as to HARDI human-brain data, to study the impact of various image acquisition parameters and background noise levels on the diffusion shapes. © 2012 IEEE.

  3. Uncertainty visualization in HARDI based on ensembles of ODFs

    KAUST Repository

    Jiao, Fangxiang

    2012-02-01

    In this paper, we propose a new and accurate technique for uncertainty analysis and uncertainty visualization based on fiber orientation distribution function (ODF) glyphs, associated with high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI). Our visualization applies volume rendering techniques to an ensemble of 3D ODF glyphs, which we call SIP functions of diffusion shapes, to capture their variability due to underlying uncertainty. This rendering elucidates the complex heteroscedastic structural variation in these shapes. Furthermore, we quantify the extent of this variation by measuring the fraction of the volume of these shapes, which is consistent across all noise levels, the certain volume ratio. Our uncertainty analysis and visualization framework is then applied to synthetic data, as well as to HARDI human-brain data, to study the impact of various image acquisition parameters and background noise levels on the diffusion shapes. © 2012 IEEE.

  4. Hardiness scales in Iranian managers: evidence of incremental validity in relationships with the five factor model and with organizational and psychological adjustment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghorbani, Nima; Watson, P J

    2005-06-01

    This study examined the incremental validity of Hardiness scales in a sample of Iranian managers. Along with measures of the Five Factor Model and of Organizational and Psychological Adjustment, Hardiness scales were administered to 159 male managers (M age = 39.9, SD = 7.5) who had worked in their organizations for 7.9 yr. (SD=5.4). Hardiness predicted greater Job Satisfaction, higher Organization-based Self-esteem, and perceptions of the work environment as being less stressful and constraining. Hardiness also correlated positively with Assertiveness, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness and negatively with Depression, Anxiety, Perceived Stress, Chance External Control, and a Powerful Others External Control. Evidence of incremental validity was obtained when the Hardiness scales supplemented the Five Factor Model in predicting organizational and psychological adjustment. These data documented the incremental validity of the Hardiness scales in a non-Western sample and thus confirmed once again that Hardiness has a relevance that extends beyond the culture in which it was developed.

  5. The Comparison of Hardiness and Coping Styles with Psychological Stress in Addicted and Normal People

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahim Molazadeh, E

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The purpose of this study was to compare the hardiness and coping styles with stress in addicted and normal people in the city of Rasht. Method: The method of this study was causal comparative research. In sampling one hundred addicts were selected by multistage cluster sampling and one hundred normal ones selected by available sampling, then the Kobasa personal views survey and Moos and Billings coping styles questionnaires were administered among both groups. The Pearson correlation coefficients, independent samples t-test and regression analysis were used for data analysis. Results: The results showed that there were significant differences between the mean scores of hardiness and emotion focused coping style in addicted and normal people, but there was no significant difference on problem focused coping style. Regression analysis also showed that hardiness can be a significant predictor for emotion focused coping style. Conclusion: The findings of this research show the important role of some of the personality characteristics such as hardiness and coping styles with stress that may correlate with the tendency to addiction and substance abuse in people.

  6. Calculation of three-dimensional mass flow and temperature distributions of nuclear reactors using the hardy cross iterative global solution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva Neto, A.J. da; Alvim, A.C.M.

    1989-01-01

    This work describes the thermalhydraulics code CROSS, designed for micro-computer calculation of heat and mass flow distributions in LWR nuclear reactor cores using the Hardy Cross method. Equations to calculate the pressure variations in the coolant channels are presented, along with derivation of a linear system of equations to calculate the energy balance. This system is solved through the Benachievicz method. A case study is presented, showing that the methodology developed in this work can be used in place of the forward marching multi-channel codes. (author) [pt

  7. Global time asymmetry as a consequence of a wave packets theorem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Castagnino, Mario A.; Gueron, Jorge; Ordonez, Adolfo R.

    2002-01-01

    When t→∞ any wave packet in the Liouvillian representation of the density matrices becomes a Hardy class function from below. This fact, in the global frame of the Reichenbach diagram, is used to explain the observed global time asymmetry of the universe

  8. Hardy inequality and properties of the quasilinear Sturm-Liouville problem

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Drábek, P.; Kufner, Alois

    2007-01-01

    Roč. 18, č. 1 (2007), s. 125-138 ISSN 1120-6330 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503 Keywords : Hardy inequality * weighted spaces * Sturm-Liouville problem Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  9. Hardiness as a predictor of mental health and well-being of Australian army reservists on and after stability operations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orme, Geoffrey J; Kehoe, E James

    2014-04-01

    This study tested whether cognitive hardiness moderates the adverse effects of deployment-related stressors on health and well-being of soldiers on short-tour (4-7 months), peacekeeping operations. Australian Army reservists (N = 448) were surveyed at the start, end, and up to 24 months after serving as peacekeepers in Timor-Leste or the Solomon Islands. They retained sound mental health throughout (Kessler 10, Post-Traumatic Checklist-Civilian, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 42). Ratings of either traumatic or nontraumatic stress were low. Despite range restrictions, scores on the Cognitive Hardiness Scale moderated the relationship between deployment stressors and a composite measure of psychological distress. Scatterplots revealed an asymmetric pattern for hardiness scores and measures of psychological distress. When hardiness scores were low, psychological distress scores were widely dispersed. However, when hardiness scores were higher, psychological distress scores became concentrated at a uniformly low level. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

  10. Hardiness and cardiovascular risk in the Czech sample

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Šolcová, Iva; Kebza, V.

    2007-01-01

    Roč. 1, č. 1 (2007), s. 97-97 ISSN 1743-7199. [Conference of the EHPS /21./ "Health Psychology and Society". 15.08.2007-18.08.2007, Maastricht] R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA700250701 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70250504 Keywords : Hardiness * Cardiovascular Risks Subject RIV: AN - Psychology

  11. Variations and determinants of carbon content in plants: a global synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ma, Suhui; He, Feng; Tian, Di; Zou, Dongting; Yan, Zhengbing; Yang, Yulong; Zhou, Tiancheng; Huang, Kaiyue; Shen, Haihua; Fang, Jingyun

    2018-02-01

    Plant carbon (C) content is one of the most important plant traits and is critical to the assessment of global C cycle and ecological stoichiometry; however, the global variations in plant C content remain poorly understood. In this study, we conducted a global analysis of the plant C content by synthesizing data from 4318 species to document specific values and their variation of the C content across plant organs and life forms. Plant organ C contents ranged from 45.0 % in reproductive organs to 47.9 % in stems at global scales, which were significantly lower than the widely employed canonical value of 50 %. Plant C content in leaves (global mean of 46.9 %) was higher than that in roots (45.6 %). Across life forms, woody plants exhibited higher C content than herbaceous plants. Conifers, relative to broad-leaved woody species, had higher C content in roots, leaves, and stems. Plant C content tended to show a decrease with increasing latitude. The life form explained more variation of the C content than climate. Our findings suggest that specific C content values of different organs and life forms developed in our study should be incorporated into the estimations of regional and global vegetation biomass C stocks.

  12. Variations and determinants of carbon content in plants: a global synthesis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Ma

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Plant carbon (C content is one of the most important plant traits and is critical to the assessment of global C cycle and ecological stoichiometry; however, the global variations in plant C content remain poorly understood. In this study, we conducted a global analysis of the plant C content by synthesizing data from 4318 species to document specific values and their variation of the C content across plant organs and life forms. Plant organ C contents ranged from 45.0 % in reproductive organs to 47.9 % in stems at global scales, which were significantly lower than the widely employed canonical value of 50 %. Plant C content in leaves (global mean of 46.9 % was higher than that in roots (45.6 %. Across life forms, woody plants exhibited higher C content than herbaceous plants. Conifers, relative to broad-leaved woody species, had higher C content in roots, leaves, and stems. Plant C content tended to show a decrease with increasing latitude. The life form explained more variation of the C content than climate. Our findings suggest that specific C content values of different organs and life forms developed in our study should be incorporated into the estimations of regional and global vegetation biomass C stocks.

  13. Weighted inequalities for Hardy-type operators involving suprema

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gogatishvili, Amiran; Opic, Bohumír; Pick, L.

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 57, č. 3 (2006), s. 227-255 ISSN 0010-0757 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA201/01/0333; GA ČR(CZ) GA201/03/0935 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10190503; CEZ:AV0Z10100521 Keywords : Hardy operators involving suprema * weighted inequalities Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  14. Effect of Low Temperature and Wheat Winter-Hardiness on Survival of Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici under Controlled Conditions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lijie Ma

    Full Text Available Wheat stripe rust, caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst, is one of the most important diseases of wheat worldwide. Understanding the survival of Pst during the overwintering period is critical for predicting Pst epidemics in the spring. Real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR methods quantifying Pst DNA and RNA (cDNA were developed and compared for the ability to quantify viable Pst in leaf tissues. Both qPCR of DNA and RNA can provide reliable measurement of viable Pst in plant tissues prior to the late sporulation stage for which qPCR of DNA gave a much higher estimate of fungal biomass than qPCR of RNA. The percentage of Pst biomass that was viable in detached and attached leaves under low temperatures decreased over time. Pst survived longer on attached leaves than on detached leaves. The survival of Pst in cultivars with strong winter-hardiness at 0°C and -5°C was greater than those with weak winter-hardiness. However, such differences in Pst survival among cultivars were negligible at -10, -15 and -20°C. Results indicated that Pst mycelia inside green leaves can also be killed by low temperatures rather than through death of green leaves under low temperatures. The relationship of Pst survival in attached leaves with temperature and winter-hardiness was well described by logistic models. Further field evaluation is necessary to assess whether inclusion of other factors such as moisture and snow cover could improve the model performance in predicting Pst overwintering potential, and hence the epidemic in spring.

  15. How Will Global Environmental Changes Affect the Growth of Alien Plants?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jujie Jia

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Global environmental changes can create novel habitats, promoting the growth of alien plants that often exhibit broad environmental tolerance and high phenotypic plasticity. However, the mechanisms underlying these growth promotory effects are unknown at present. Here, we conducted a phylogenetically controlled meta-analysis using data from 111 published studies encompassing the responses of 129 alien plants to global warming, increased precipitation, N deposition, and CO2 enrichment. We compared the differences in the responses of alien plants to the four global environmental change factors across six categories of functional traits between woody and non-woody life forms as well as C3 and C4 photosynthetic pathways. Our results showed that all four global change factors promote alien plant growth. Warming had a more positive effect on C4 than C3 plants. Although the effects of the four factors on the functional traits of alien plants were variable, plant growth was mainly promoted via an increase in growth rate and size. Our data suggest that potential future global environmental changes could further facilitate alien plant growth.

  16. A study of some constants characterizing the weighted Hardy inequality

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kufner, Alois; Persson, L. E.; Wedestig, A.

    2004-01-01

    Roč. 64, - (2004), s. 135-146 ISSN 0137-6934 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA1019305 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1019905 Keywords : Hardyďs inequality * inequalities * weights Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  17. Intraspecies differences in cold hardiness, carbohydrate content and β-amylase gene expression of Vaccinium corymbosum during cold acclimation and deacclimation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jun Hyung; Yu, Duk Jun; Kim, Su Jin; Choi, Doil; Lee, Hee Jae

    2012-12-01

    Changes in cold hardiness, carbohydrate content and β-amylase gene expression were monitored in the shoots of the highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) cultivars 'Sharpblue' and 'Jersey' during cold acclimation (CA) and deacclimation (DA). The seasonal patterns were similar in both cultivars, but the levels of cold hardiness determined by electrolyte leakage analysis were significantly different; 'Jersey' was hardier than 'Sharpblue'. Cold hardiness was closely related to total soluble sugar content (r = -0.98** and -0.99** for 'Sharpblue' and 'Jersey', respectively). In 'Jersey', more soluble sugars accumulated during CA. Of the detected soluble sugars, glucose, fructose and raffinose contents were significantly associated with cold hardiness in both cultivars. Sucrose was abundant in both cultivars, and stachyose content changed significantly during CA and DA. However, they were not associated with cold hardiness. A sharp decrease in starch contents in the middle of CA coincided with β-amylase gene (VcBMY) expression, indicating the conversion of starch into soluble sugars. During CA, VcBMY was expressed up to twofold higher in 'Jersey' than in 'Sharpblue'. These results suggest that intraspecies differences in the cold hardiness of highbush blueberries are associated with total soluble sugar content, which is driven partly by differential expression of VcBMY.

  18. Induction of cold hardiness in an invasive herbivore: The case of hemlock woolly adelgid (Hemiptera: Adelgidae)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joseph S. Elkinton; Jeffrey A. Lombardo; Artemis D. Roehrig; Thomas J. McAvoy; Albert Mayfield; Mark Whitmore

    2017-01-01

    As a measure of cold hardiness, we tested the supercooling points or freezing temperatures of individual hemlock woolly adelgids (Adelges tsugae Annand) collected from 15 locations across the north to south range of the adelgid in eastern North America at different times during two winters. Adelgids from the northern interior locations with USDA hardiness zones of 5B–...

  19. Preliminary results on seasonal changes in flower bud cold hardiness of sour cherry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Guangping; Pagter, Majken; Andersen, Lillie

    2012-01-01

    . cerasus ‘Kelleriis 16’ under natural conditions, and investigated seasonal changes in flower bud cold hardiness of ‘Stevnsbaer Birgitte’. In a cold winter with unusual low temperatures in December, the injury rate of buds of ‘Stevnsbaer Birgitte’ was significantly higher than that of ‘Kelleriis 16......’, confirming that buds of the latter cultivar are considerably more cold hardy than buds of ‘Stevnsbaer Birgitte’. The majority of frost injuries in buds of ‘Stevnsbaer Birgitte’ occurred mid-winter, but dehardening appeared fast, indicating that the critical injury times of buds of ‘Stevnsbaer Birgitte...

  20. Role of social support, hardiness, and acculturation as predictors of mental health among international students of Asian Indian origin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atri, Ashutosh; Sharma, Manoj; Cottrell, Randall

    This study determined the role of social support, hardiness, and acculturation as predictors of mental health among international Asian Indian students enrolled at two large public universities in Ohio. A sample of 185 students completed a 75-item online instrument assessing their social support levels, acculturation, hardiness, and their mental health. Regression analyses were conducted to test for variance in mental health attributable to each of the three independent variables. The final regression model revealed that the belonging aspect of social support, acculturation and prejudice of acculturation scale, and commitment and control of hardiness were all predictive of mental health (R2 = 0.523). Recommendations have been offered to develop interventions that will help strengthen the social support, hardiness, and acculturation of international students and help improve their mental health. Recommendations for development of future Web-based studies also are offered.

  1. Recent patents in plant biotechnology: impact on global health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hefferon, Kathleen L

    2012-08-01

    Agricultural biotechnology offers a robust series of tools by which to address global concerns such as food security, crop protection, and fuel/energy requirements. A number of advances made recently in plant molecular biology also have resulted in applications which largely focus on improving global human health. This review describes some of the recent innovations in plant biotechnology that have come to the forefront over the past year. Included are novel techniques by which plants can be improved as platforms for biopharmaceutical protein production, a growing field also referred to as 'molecular pharming'. The metabolic engineering of plants to produce compounds which have additional nutritional benefits is also outlined. The review concludes with a discussion of the future impact that these innovations may have both on global health and on the development of our future intellectual property landscape.

  2. [The effect of self-reflection on depression mediated by hardiness].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakajima, Miho; Hattori, Yosuke; Tanno, Yoshihiko

    2015-10-01

    Previous studies have shown that two types of private self-consciousness result in opposing effects on depression; one of which is self-rumination, which leads to maladaptive effect, and the other is self-reflection, which leads to an adaptive effect. Although a number of studies have examined the mechanism of the maladaptive effect of self-rumination, only a few studies have examined the mechanism of the adaptive effect of self-reflection. The present study examined the process of how self-reflection affected depression adaptively, Based on the previous findings, we proposed a hypothetical model assuming that hardiness acts as a mediator of self-reflection. To test the validity of the model, structural equation modeling analysis was performed with the cross-sectional data of 155 undergraduate students. The results. suggest that the hypothetical model is valid. According to the present results and previous findings, it is suggested that self-reflection is associated with low levels of depression and mediated by "rich commitment", one component of hardiness.

  3. Jude the Obscure de Thomas Hardy et l’autorité de la lettre Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy and the Power of the Letter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stéphanie Bernard

    2009-10-01

    Full Text Available Thomas Hardy is usually considered a Victorian writer. Nonetheless, his last novel Jude the Obscure, announced the era of modernity which started with the twentieth century, just before he abandoned fiction to concentrate on poetry. With modernity looming in the background, Jude the Obscure allowed for the rewriting of tragedy. Urban settings have replaced the countryside and all signs of transcendence have vanished from society. This defeat of the divine is nevertheless accompanied by a great number of biblical references. Thomas Hardy quotes and uses the Divine Letter as if to rewrite it rather than to appear faithful to the Word. The text keeps offering itself to the spell of voice: it does so when Job utters words of revolt and then worship, when Jude lets his imagination flow from his lips so that he seems to live on in the text after he is dead, or when the voice of the novelist becomes the voice of a poet.

  4. The characterization of weighted local hardy spaces on domains and its application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Heng-geng; Yang, Xiao-ming

    2004-09-01

    In this paper, we give the four equivalent characterizations for the weighted local hardy spaces on Lipschitz domains. Also, we give their application for the harmonic function defined in bounded Lipschitz domains.

  5. Effects of life event stress, exercise workload, hardiness and coping ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Effects of life event stress, exercise workload, hardiness and coping style on susceptibility to the common cold. GA Struwig, M Papaikonomou, P Kruger. Abstract. No Abstract. South African Journal for Physical, Health Education, Recreation and DanceVol. 12(4) 2006: pp. 369-383. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL ...

  6. Impact of Psychological Hardiness and Self-Monitoring on Teacher Burnout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erkutlu, Hakan

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this research is to examine the moderating effects of psychological hardiness and self-monitoring on the linkage between organizational politics and teacher burnout. Totally 1344 teachers from 112 high schools chosen by random method in Ankara, Istanbul, Adana, Antalya, Samsun, Kahramanmaras, Adiyaman and Gaziantep in 2010-2011…

  7. On weighted hardy inequalities on semiaxis for functions vanishing at the endpoints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stepanov Vladimir

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available We study the weighted Hardy inequalities on the semiaxis of the form for functions vanishing at the endpoints together with derivatives up to the order . The case is completely characterized.

  8. An application of results by Hardy, Ramanujan and Karamata to Ackermannian functions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas Weiermann

    2003-06-01

    Full Text Available The Ackermann function is a fascinating and well studied paradigm for a function which eventually dominates all primitive recursive functions. By a classical result from the theory of recursive functions it is known that the Ackermann function can be defined by an unnested or descent recursion along the segment of ordinals below ω ω (or equivalently along the order type of the polynomials under eventual domination. In this article we give a fine structure analysis of such a Ackermann type descent recursion in the case that the ordinals below ω ω are represented via a Hardy Ramanujan style coding. This paper combines number-theoretic results by Hardy and Ramanujan, Karamata's celebrated Tauberian theorem and techniques from the theory of computability in a perhaps surprising way.

  9. The Representation of Women in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabah Abdul Hameed Shakury

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper is an examination and exploration of Thomas Hardy’s representation of women in his novel, Tess of the d’Urbervilles. It provides a brief evaluation of the era in which Hardy was writing, placing emphasis on the psycho-sexual intricacies of the late Victorian era and their impact upon the characterization of women. The paper also shows Hardy’s attitudes toward women and how these attitudes affected his representation of women characters. The picture of vigorous womanhood and a victim of forces beyond control is clearly portrayed in Tess, the heroine. Women are presented as sensual creatures and weak. Hardy portrays women affected by the pressure exerted on them by their environment and heredity. Due to their humanity, suffering is inevitable and guilt is a common compassion.

  10. Anisotropic hardy spaces of Musielak-Orlicz type with applications to boundedness of sublinear operators.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Baode; Yang, Dachun; Yuan, Wen

    2014-01-01

    Let φ : ℝ(n) × [0, ∞)→[0, ∞) be a Musielak-Orlicz function and A an expansive dilation. In this paper, the authors introduce the anisotropic Hardy space of Musielak-Orlicz type, H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)), via the grand maximal function. The authors then obtain some real-variable characterizations of H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)) in terms of the radial, the nontangential, and the tangential maximal functions, which generalize the known results on the anisotropic Hardy space H(A)(p) (ℝ(n)) with p ∈ (0,1] and are new even for its weighted variant. Finally, the authors characterize these spaces by anisotropic atomic decompositions. The authors also obtain the finite atomic decomposition characterization of H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)), and, as an application, the authors prove that, for a given admissible triplet (φ, q, s), if T is a sublinear operator and maps all (φ, q, s)-atoms with q spaces ℬ, then T uniquely extends to a bounded sublinear operator from H(A)(φ)(ℝ(n)) to ℬ. These results are new even for anisotropic Orlicz-Hardy spaces on ℝ(n).

  11. Some new iterated Hardy-type inequalities: the case θ = 1

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Gogatishvili, Amiran; Mustafayev, R.; Persson, L. E.

    -, 8 November (2013), s. 515 ISSN 1029-242X R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/08/0383; GA ČR GA13-14743S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : iterated Hardy inequalities * discretization * weights Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.768, year: 2013 http://www.journalofinequalitiesandapplications.com/content/2013/1/515

  12. The Hardy inequality and the heat flow in curved wedges

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Krejčiřík, David

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 73, č. 2 (2016), s. 91-113 ISSN 0032-5155 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-06818S Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : Hardy inequality * heat equation * large-time behaviour * curved wedges * Dirichlet Laplacian * conical singularities * Brownian motion * subcriticality Subject RIV: BE - Theoretical Physics Impact factor: 0.735, year: 2016

  13. Overexpression of HARDY, an AP2/ERF gene from Arabidopsis, improves drought and salt tolerance by reducing transpiration and sodium uptake in transgenic Trifolium alexandrinum L.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abogadallah, Gaber M; Nada, Reham M; Malinowski, Robert; Quick, Paul

    2011-06-01

    Trifolium alexandrinum L. was transformed with the Arabidopsis HARDY gene that belongs to the stress-related AP2/ERF (APETALA2/ethylene responsive element binding factors) superfamily of transcription factors. The fresh weights of the transgenic lines L2 and L3 were improved by 42 and 55% under drought stress and by 38 and 95% under salt stress compared to the wild type, respectively. The dry weights were similarly improved. Overexpression of HARDY improved the instantaneous water use efficiency (WUE) under drought stress by reducing transpiration (E) and under salt stress by improving photosynthesis (A), through reducing Na+ accumulation in leaves, and reducing E. However, HARDY improved the growth of drought-stressed transgenic plants as compared to the wild type by delaying water depletion from soil and preventing rapid decline in A. L2 and L3 had thicker stems and in case of L3, more xylem rows per vascular bundle, which may have made L3 more resistant to lodging in the field. Field performance of L2 and L3 under combined drought and salt stress was significantly better than that of the wild type in terms of fresh and dry weights (40%, 46% and 31%, 40%, respectively). The results provide further evidence for the efficiency of overexpression of a single gene in improving tolerance to abiotic stress under field conditions.

  14. Thomas Hardy, Provincial Geology and the Material Imagination

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adelene Buckland

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available This essay explores the nineteenth-century traffic and exchange of fossils and natural-historical objects between province and metropolis as represented by two very different geological writers of the period, the fossil collector Gideon Mantell and the novelist Thomas Hardy. The men are connected through Mantell's 'The Wonders of Geology', the sixth edition of which (1848 Hardy read and utilised for his descriptions of the geological past in his third novel, 'A Pair of Blue Eyes' (1873. These two texts demonstrate a powerful investment in determining the meaning of the geological object according to the social and geographical spaces in which it is discovered, displayed, and discussed, so that the scientific object becomes the site around which complex cultural politics coalesce and sit in tension. In its consideration of the relationship between place and meaning in science, and in its focus on scientific material culture, this essay attempts to disrupt the current spotlight on the interrelationships between scientific law and narrative pattern in Victorian literary studies. Instead, it hopes to contribute to a discussion of the ways in which the novel's attention to scientific objects rather than narratives made it an important site of epistemological enquiry into the basis of scientific knowledge and the inseparability of that knowledge from the discourses and spaces which produced it.

  15. Stress among School-Going Adolescents in Relation to Psychological Hardiness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Raminder

    2016-01-01

    The present study was designed to investigate the stress among school-going adolescents in relation to psychological hardiness and also to study the gender and locale-wise differences in various dimensions and components of stress. The study was conducted over a sample of 200 (100 rural and 100 urban) adolescents studying in 10+1 and 10+2 classes…

  16. A Poisson type formula for Hardy classes on Heisenberg's group

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lopushansky O.V.

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The Hardy type class of complex functions with infinite many variables defined on the Schrodinger irreducible unitary orbit of reduced Heisenberg group, generated by the Gauss density, is investigated. A Poisson integral type formula for their analytic extensions on an open ball is established. Taylor coefficients for analytic extensions are described by the associatedsymmetric Fock space.

  17. Development of hardy sorghum cultivars for the arid and semi arid ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Development of hardy sorghum cultivars for the arid and semi arid regions. MN Makobe, EM Kahangi, AK Misra, MO Imbuga. Abstract. No Abstract. Full Text: EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT EMAIL FREE FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT · AJOL African Journals Online. HOW TO USE AJOL.

  18. Hardiness and support at work as predictors of work stress and job satisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCalister, Katherine T; Dolbier, Christyn L; Webster, Judith A; Mallon, Mark W; Steinhardt, Mary A

    2006-01-01

    To test a theoretically and empirically based model linking potential protective resources (hardiness, coworker and supervisor support) to the outcomes of work stress and job satisfaction and replicating the relationship of work stress to job satisfaction while accounting for the potential influence of negative affectivity. A cross-sectional research design using survey data collected from two convenience samples. Two worksites: (1) a high-tech company and (2) a government agency. High-tech employees (N = 310; response rate, 73.8%) and government agency employees (N = 745; response rate, 49.7%). The Dispositional Resilience Scale measured hardiness and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule measured negative affectivity. Coworker and supervisor support were measured using the Coworker Support Scale and the Supervisor Support Scale, respectively. The Perceived Work Stress Scale measured work stress, and a single item from the Job Satisfaction Scale assessed overall job satisfaction. A multiple-group path analysis examined the proposed model. Similar patterns of association were found for both samples and suggested a more parsimonious model without the path from negative affectivity to job satisfaction. The model supports the protective nature of hardiness and support at work with regard to work stress and job satisfaction. Explanations of relationships depicted in the model, practical implications for reducing work stress and enhancing job satisfaction, limitations and future directions are discussed.

  19. HARDINESS, WORLD ASSUMPTIONS, MOTIVATION OF ATHLETES OF CONTACT AND NOT CONTACT KINDS OF SPORT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elena Vladimirovna Molchanova

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Investigation of personal psychological specificity of athletes of contact (freestyle wrestling and not contact (archery kinds of sport were carried out. Pronounced deviation in hardiness, world assumptions, motives for sport doing were obtained. In particularly, archery athletes possess higher values of hardiness and positively view the world, than wrestlers, while possess less motives for sport doing as “successful for life quality and skills” and “physical perfection”. Thus for athletes not contact kinds of sports rather coping in permanent stressed conditions are predicted. The obtained results are practically important for counseling work of sport psychologists and moreover they could be a basement for training teach programs and challenge stress overcoming programs.

  20. Global change and the evolution of phenotypic plasticity in plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matesanz, Silvia; Gianoli, Ernesto; Valladares, Fernando

    2010-09-01

    Global change drivers create new environmental scenarios and selective pressures, affecting plant species in various interacting ways. Plants respond with changes in phenology, physiology, and reproduction, with consequences for biotic interactions and community composition. We review information on phenotypic plasticity, a primary means by which plants cope with global change scenarios, recommending promising approaches for investigating the evolution of plasticity and describing constraints to its evolution. We discuss the important but largely ignored role of phenotypic plasticity in range shifts and review the extensive literature on invasive species as models of evolutionary change in novel environments. Plasticity can play a role both in the short-term response of plant populations to global change as well as in their long-term fate through the maintenance of genetic variation. In new environmental conditions, plasticity of certain functional traits may be beneficial (i.e., the plastic response is accompanied by a fitness advantage) and thus selected for. Plasticity can also be relevant in the establishment and persistence of plants in novel environments that are crucial for populations at the colonizing edge in range shifts induced by climate change. Experimental studies show taxonomically widespread plastic responses to global change drivers in many functional traits, though there is a lack of empirical support for many theoretical models on the evolution of phenotypic plasticity. Future studies should assess the adaptive value and evolutionary potential of plasticity under complex, realistic global change scenarios. Promising tools include resurrection protocols and artificial selection experiments. © 2010 New York Academy of Sciences.

  1. Locus of control, hardiness, and emotional intelligence as predictors of waste prevention behaviours

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abdollahi, A.

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Given that waste generation is an economic and environmental problem for nations and governments, it is necessary that we advance our knowledge on the etiology of waste prevention behaviours. This study aimed to investigate about the relationships between the locus of control, hardiness, emotional intelligence, and waste prevention behaviours. Four hundred and forty participants (226 females and 214 males from Universiti Putra Malaysia completed a survey questionnaire. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM estimated that individuals who were high in emotional intelligence and hardiness showed better waste prevention behaviours as well as those individuals with internal locus of control. Also, the results showed that older students tend to have better waste prevention behaviours. These findings reinforce the importance of personality traits and emotional intelligence in waste prevention behaviours.

  2. A revision of Ichneumonopsis Hardy, 1973 (Diptera: Tephritidae: Dacinae: Gastrozonini, Oriental bamboo-shoot fruit flies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amnon Freidberg

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Ichneumonopsis Hardy,1973, a genus of oriental fruit flies, is revised and two new species, I. hancocki sp. nov. (from Peninsular Malaysia and I. taiwanensis sp. nov. (from Taiwan, are described. A key to the three species of Ichneumonopsis is presented. In northern Thailand larvae of I. burmensis Hardy, 1973 develop in bamboo shoots of Pseudoxytenanthera albociliata (Munro Nguyen and Dendrocalamus strictus (Roxburgh Nees (Poaceae, not Melocalamus compactiflorus as previously reported. The recently discovered association of I. burmensis with bamboo substantiates our previous assumption assigning Ichneumonopsis to the primarily bamboo-inhabiting tribe Gastrozonini. Hence, we synonymize Ichneumonopsidini under Gastrozonini (syn. nov..

  3. On the testing of Hardy-Weinberg proportions and equality of allele frequencies in males and females at biallelic genetic markers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graffelman, Jan; Weir, Bruce S

    2018-02-01

    Standard statistical tests for equality of allele frequencies in males and females and tests for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium are tightly linked by their assumptions. Tests for equality of allele frequencies assume Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, whereas the usual chi-square or exact test for Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium assume equality of allele frequencies in the sexes. In this paper, we propose ways to break this interdependence in assumptions of the two tests by proposing an omnibus exact test that can test both hypotheses jointly, as well as a likelihood ratio approach that permits these phenomena to be tested both jointly and separately. The tests are illustrated with data from the 1000 Genomes project. © 2017 The Authors Genetic Epidemiology Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Global biogeography of mating system variation in seed plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moeller, David A; Briscoe Runquist, Ryan D; Moe, Annika M; Geber, Monica A; Goodwillie, Carol; Cheptou, Pierre-Olivier; Eckert, Christopher G; Elle, Elizabeth; Johnston, Mark O; Kalisz, Susan; Ree, Richard H; Sargent, Risa D; Vallejo-Marin, Mario; Winn, Alice A

    2017-03-01

    Latitudinal gradients in biotic interactions have been suggested as causes of global patterns of biodiversity and phenotypic variation. Plant biologists have long speculated that outcrossing mating systems are more common at low than high latitudes owing to a greater predictability of plant-pollinator interactions in the tropics; however, these ideas have not previously been tested. Here, we present the first global biogeographic analysis of plant mating systems based on 624 published studies from 492 taxa. We found a weak decline in outcrossing rate towards higher latitudes and among some biomes, but no biogeographic patterns in the frequency of self-incompatibility. Incorporating life history and growth form into biogeographic analyses reduced or eliminated the importance of latitude and biome in predicting outcrossing or self-incompatibility. Our results suggest that biogeographic patterns in mating system are more likely a reflection of the frequency of life forms across latitudes rather than the strength of plant-pollinator interactions. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  5. Global warming mitigation strategies and programs for power plant developers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Holmes, N.R.

    1992-01-01

    Power plant developers are increasingly being surprised by regulatory agencies requiring them to mitigate the carbon dioxide(CO 2 ) emissions from their proposed power plants, as part of the plant's operating permit conditions. Since carbon dioxide is not a criteria pollutant with a National Ambient Air Quality Standard, power plant developers are often troubled by this additional regulatory requirement. This presentation will describe the contribution that CO 2 makes to global warming, the role of trees and forests as carbon sequesters or sinks, some non-forestry related and forestry related mitigation programs, including the advantages, disadvantages, and some cost estimates for the forestry related CO 2 mitigation programs. As public concern about global warming continues to escalate, it is almost certain that regulatory agencies will increase their focus on CO 2 mitigation

  6. The Role of Spiritual Attitude in Child-Rearing in Predicting the Psychological Hardiness of Mothers with Handicapped Children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bahman Bahmani

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: Providing care to children who have disability is often a stressful experience, yet spiritual beliefs may help mothers to be patient, tolerant and  hard in coping with child-rearing difficulties. This study examined the relationship between the spiritual attitudes of mothers of handicapped children to child-rearing and psychological hardiness. Methods: In a descriptive correlational study, 120 mothers of handicapped children who were referred to the rehabilitation clinics of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences (Rofeideh, Akhavan and Sina clinics were selected through purposeful sampling and answered the Sanctification of Parents Scale (SPS, and Personal Views Survey (PVS. Data were analyzed by SPSS-20 software and statistical procedures including Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis were used. Results: Results showed that spiritual attitudes to child-rearing are significant predictors of hardiness in mothers. Discussion: It seems like having spiritual attitudes in difficult situations such as providing care for disabled children plays a significant role in mother’s patience and hardiness.

  7. Disentangling dormancy and cold-hardiness in wine grape cultivars Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cold-hardiness of bud and cane tissue was monitored throughout para, endo and ecodormancy in field-grown vines using differential thermal analysis to generate lethal temperature exotherms (LTE). Deacclimation and re-acclimation rates were measured during ecodormancy to determine the depth of dorm...

  8. The Role of Psychological Hardiness and Spiritual Health in Predict of Quality of Life in Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afsaneh Shahbazirad

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Nowadays, quality of life is one of the main phenomena in health, which is affected by different factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of psychological hardiness and spiritual health in predicting the quality of life among students. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted on 120 students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during 2013-2014. Participants were selected by cluster sampling method. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, Ahvaz psychological hardiness questionnaire, spiritual health questionnaire of Paloutzian & Park and Quality of life questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS 19 using Pearson’s correlation test and stepwise regression analysis. Results: There was a significant positive correlation between psychological hardiness and quality of life (P < 0.05. There was a significant positive correlation between spiritual health and quality of life (P < 0.05. However, there was no significant relationship between quality of life and spiritual health in the existential dimension; while, there was a significant relationship with religious dimension (P < 0.05. Psychological hardiness and spiritual health can predict 11.3 % of the variance in quality of life. Conclusions: Considering the relationship between the variables, it is better to provide training packages about the increase of spiritual health and psychological hardiness, in order to enhance the quality of life of university students.

  9. Mutualism Disruption Threatens Global Plant Biodiversity: A Systematic Review.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clare E Aslan

    Full Text Available As global environmental change accelerates, biodiversity losses can disrupt interspecific interactions. Extinctions of mutualist partners can create "widow" species, which may face reduced ecological fitness. Hypothetically, such mutualism disruptions could have cascading effects on biodiversity by causing additional species coextinctions. However, the scope of this problem - the magnitude of biodiversity that may lose mutualist partners and the consequences of these losses - remains unknown.We conducted a systematic review and synthesis of data from a broad range of sources to estimate the threat posed by vertebrate extinctions to the global biodiversity of vertebrate-dispersed and -pollinated plants. Though enormous research gaps persist, our analysis identified Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and global oceanic islands as geographic regions at particular risk of disruption of these mutualisms; within these regions, percentages of plant species likely affected range from 2.1-4.5%. Widowed plants are likely to experience reproductive declines of 40-58%, potentially threatening their persistence in the context of other global change stresses.Our systematic approach demonstrates that thousands of species may be impacted by disruption in one class of mutualisms, but extinctions will likely disrupt other mutualisms, as well. Although uncertainty is high, there is evidence that mutualism disruption directly threatens significant biodiversity in some geographic regions. Conservation measures with explicit focus on mutualistic functions could be necessary to bolster populations of widowed species and maintain ecosystem functions.

  10. Nonnegative definite EAP and ODF estimation via a unified multi-shell HARDI reconstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jian; Jiang, Tianzi; Deriche, Rachid

    2012-01-01

    In High Angular Resolution Diffusion Imaging (HARDI), Orientation Distribution Function (ODF) and Ensemble Average Propagator (EAP) are two important Probability Density Functions (PDFs) which reflect the water diffusion and fiber orientations. Spherical Polar Fourier Imaging (SPFI) is a recent model-free multi-shell HARDI method which estimates both EAP and ODF from the diffusion signals with multiple b values. As physical PDFs, ODFs and EAPs are nonnegative definite respectively in their domains S2 and R3. However, existing ODF/EAP estimation methods like SPFI seldom consider this natural constraint. Although some works considered the nonnegative constraint on the given discrete samples of ODF/EAP, the estimated ODF/EAP is not guaranteed to be nonnegative definite in the whole continuous domain. The Riemannian framework for ODFs and EAPs has been proposed via the square root parameterization based on pre-estimated ODFs and EAPs by other methods like SPFI. However, there is no work on how to estimate the square root of ODF/EAP called as the wavefuntion directly from diffusion signals. In this paper, based on the Riemannian framework for ODFs/EAPs and Spherical Polar Fourier (SPF) basis representation, we propose a unified model-free multi-shell HARDI method, named as Square Root Parameterized Estimation (SRPE), to simultaneously estimate both the wavefunction of EAPs and the nonnegative definite ODFs and EAPs from diffusion signals. The experiments on synthetic data and real data showed SRPE is more robust to noise and has better EAP reconstruction than SPFI, especially for EAP profiles at large radius.

  11. Linear optics implementation of weak values in Hardy's paradox

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahnert, S.E.; Payne, M.C.

    2004-01-01

    We propose an experimental setup for the implementation of weak measurements in the context of the gedanken experiment known as Hardy's paradox. As Aharonov et al. [Y. Aharonov, A. Botero, S. Popescu, B. Reznik, and J. Tollaksen, Phys. Lett. A301, 130 (2002)] showed, these weak values form a language with which the paradox can be resolved. Our analysis shows that this language is indeed consistent and experimentally testable. It also reveals exactly how a combination of weak values can give rise to an apparently paradoxical result

  12. Weighted norm inequalities of Opial and Hardy type for higher-order derivatives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Imoru, C.O.

    1990-12-01

    The object of this paper is to establish some new weighted integral inequalities of Opial and Hardy type which can be used in the analysis of solutions of ordinary differential equations and in the study of the bounds and compactness of the integral operators of Riemann-Liouville and Weyl. (author). 8 refs

  13. Introduction of nuclear power plant for mitigating the impact of global warming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ida Nuryatin Finahari

    2008-01-01

    Energy utilization for power plants in Indonesia is still highly depending on the burning of fossil fuel like coal, oil, and gas. From the combustion of fossil fuel, greenhouse gases such as CO 2 and N 2 O are produced. An increase of CO 2 gas emission to the atmosphere can block the heat loss from the earth surface and will increase the greenhouse effect that results in the temperature increase of the earth surface (global warming). Global warming can cause a very extreme climate change on earth. One of the solutions to reduce CO 2 gas emission produced by fossil fuel power plants is to utilize the plants with flue gas treatment facility. At such facility, CO 2 gas is reacted with certain mineral based substances thus can be used as base material in food-, pharmaceutical-, construction-, and cosmetic industry. Another alternative to reduce CO 2 gas emission is by replacing fossil fuel power plants with nuclear power plants. Considering the environmental and economic aspects, the nuclear power plant does not emit CO 2 gas, so that the use of nuclear power plant can mitigate the impact of global warming. Based on the operational experience of nuclear power plants in advanced countries, the cost of generating electricity from nuclear power plants is more competitive than that of fossil fuel power plant. (author)

  14. An equivalence theorem for integral conditions related to Hardyďs inequality

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kufner, Alois; Gogatishvili, Amiran; Persson, L. E.; Wedestig, A.

    2004-01-01

    Roč. 29, č. 2 (2004), s. 867-880 ISSN 0147-1937 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA201/01/0333; GA AV ČR IAA1019305; GA ČR GA201/03/0671 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z1019905 Keywords : inequalities * weighted spaces * Hardy operator Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics

  15. New winter hardy winter bread wheat cultivar (Triticum aestivum L. Voloshkova

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Л. М. Голик

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Creation of Initial raw for breeding of winter wheat by change of the development type under low temperatures influence was described. Seeds of spring wheat were vernalized in aluminum weighting bottle. By using low temperatures at sawing of M2-6 at the begin ind of optimal terms of sawing of winter wheat, new winter-hardy variety of Voloshkova was bred.

  16. Validation of a Newly Developed Instrument Establishing Links Between Motivation and Academic Hardiness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Spiridon Kamtsios

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of the study was to establish the reliability, the structural and the convergent validity of the “Dimensions of Academic Hardiness Questionnaire” for late elementary school children. A sample of children (N = 1264 aged 10-12 years completed the questionnaire and the “Athens Coping Scale”. Multiple fit indices provided support that the 9-factor model had a good fit to the data. Reliability coefficients ranged from .68 to .83. The study provided also preliminary evidence of convergent validity of the “Dimensions of Academic Hardiness” scores with one theoretically related measure, the “Athens Coping Scale”. The results enrich the notion of Academic Hardiness in late elementary school children as the role of awareness and the role of children’s previous experiences has been distinguished. The relation between the “Dimensions of Academic Hardiness” and achievement goal orientations in children learning is also noted. These findings are discussed in the context of the relevant literature.

  17. Alexandre Hardy, Théâtre complet, Tome I

    OpenAIRE

    Pavesio, Monica

    2016-01-01

    Il primo volume del teatro completo di Alexandre Hardy, pubblicato nella collezione della Bibliothèque du théâtre français diretta da Charles Mazouer, presenta le edizioni critiche delle pièces contenute nel primo volume del drammaturgo, stampato per la prima volta a Parigi nel 1624. Si tratta del primo risultato di un lavoro più vasto che prevede, nei prossimi anni, la pubblicazione dell’intero corpus delle opere teatrali del grande drammaturgo del primo Seicento, grazie al lavoro di un’équi...

  18. Testing Hardy's nonlocality proof with genuine energy-time entanglement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vallone, Giuseppe; Gianani, Ilaria; Inostroza, Enrique B.; Saavedra, Carlos; Lima, Gustavo; Cabello, Adan; Mataloni, Paolo

    2011-01-01

    We show two experimental realizations of Hardy's ladder test of quantum nonlocality using energy-time correlated photons, following the scheme proposed by Cabello et al.[Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 040401 (2009)]. Unlike previous energy-time Bell experiments, these tests require precisely tailored nonmaximally entangled states. One of them is equivalent to the two-setting and two-outcome Bell test requiring a minimum detection efficiency. The reported experiments are still affected by the locality and detection loopholes, but are free of the post-selection loophole of previous energy-time and time-bin Bell tests.

  19. Evaluation of Tannins and Anthocyanins in Marquette, Frontenac, and St. Croix Cold-Hardy Grape Cultivars

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Somchai Rice

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Cold-hardy grape cultivars have become popular in northern regions. Wines from these cultivars are low in tannins and lighter in color compared to Vitis vinifera. The northern regions are striving to enhance desired ″full body″ and red color qualities in the wine produced from cold-hardy grapes. The objective of this study was to compare tannin and pigment content in skins and seeds of three cold-hardy red grape cultivars, at two time points, from two locations, using the Adams-Harbertson (A-H assay. The A-H assay is based on protein precipitation and spectrophotometry. Total tannin concentrations detected in Frontenac, Marquette, and St. Croix berries, ranged from 0.29 to 0.66 mg/berry catechin equivalents (CE. Bitter seed tannins were most abundant in Marquette berries (0.54 ± 0.66 mg/berry CE. Softer skin tannins were most abundant in St. Croix berries (0.24 ± 0.19 mg/berry CE. Monomeric anthocyanins contributed to over 60% of the total color at pH 4.9 and were highest in St. Croix skins (74.21% of the total color at pH 4.9. Varying amounts of short polymeric pigments and long polymeric pigments were present in grape skins, indicating that pigmented tannins had already formed by harvest. This is the first evaluation of tannins and pigments in Frontenac, Marquette, and St. Croix berries.

  20. Determination of hardiness by psychosocial and behavioural variables in a representative Czech population sample

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Kebza, V.; Šolcová, Iva

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 23, Suppl. 1 (2008), s. 158 ISSN 0887-0446 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) IAA 700250701 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z70250504 Keywords : hardiness * Czech population sample * social support Subject RIV: AN - Psychology

  1. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; Chen, Ming; Wythers, Kirk R.; Fazayeli, Farideh; Banerjee, Arindam; Atkin, Owen K.; Kattge, Jens; Amiaud, Bernard; Blonder, Benjamin; Boenisch, Gerhard; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Brown, Kerry A.; Byun, Chaeho; Campetella, Giandiego; Cerabolini, Bruno E. L.; Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.; Craine, Joseph M.; Craven, Dylan; de Vries, Franciska T.; Díaz, Sandra; Domingues, Tomas F.; Forey, Estelle; González-Melo, Andrés; Gross, Nicolas; Han, Wenxuan; Hattingh, Wesley N.; Hickler, Thomas; Jansen, Steven; Kramer, Koen; Kraft, Nathan J. B.; Kurokawa, Hiroko; Laughlin, Daniel C.; Meir, Patrick; Minden, Vanessa; Niinemets, Ülo; Onoda, Yusuke; Peñuelas, Josep; Read, Quentin; Sack, Lawren; Schamp, Brandon; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.; Spasojevic, Marko J.; Sosinski, Enio; Thornton, Peter E.; Valladares, Fernando; van Bodegom, Peter M.; Williams, Mathew; Wirth, Christian; Reich, Peter B.

    2017-12-01

    Accurate trait-environment relationships and global maps of plant trait distributions represent a needed stepping stone in global biogeography and are critical constraints of key parameters for land models. Here, we use a global data set of plant traits to map trait distributions closely coupled to photosynthesis and foliar respiration: specific leaf area (SLA), and dry mass-based concentrations of leaf nitrogen (Nm) and phosphorus (Pm); We propose two models to extrapolate geographically sparse point data to continuous spatial surfaces. The first is a categorical model using species mean trait values, categorized into plant functional types (PFTs) and extrapolating to PFT occurrence ranges identified by remote sensing. The second is a Bayesian spatial model that incorporates information about PFT, location and environmental covariates to estimate trait distributions. Both models are further stratified by varying the number of PFTs; The performance of the models was evaluated based on their explanatory and predictive ability. The Bayesian spatial model leveraging the largest number of PFTs produced the best maps; The interpolation of full trait distributions enables a wider diversity of vegetation to be represented across the land surface. These maps may be used as input to Earth System Models and to evaluate other estimates of functional diversity.

  2. 3D Reconstruction of Frozen Plant Tissue: a unique histological analysis to image post-freeze responses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winter hardiness in plants is the result of a complex interaction between genes, the tissue where those genes are expressed and the environment. The light microscope is a valuable tool to understand this complexity which will ultimately help researchers improve the tolerance of plants to freezing st...

  3. Globalization and loss of plant knowledge: challenging the paradigm.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandebroek, Ina; Balick, Michael J

    2012-01-01

    The erosion of cultural knowledge and traditions as a result of globalization and migration is a commonly reported phenomenon. We compared one type of cultural knowledge about medicinal plants (number of plants reported to treat thirty common health conditions) among Dominican laypersons who self-medicate with plants and live in rural or urban areas of the Dominican Republic (DR), and those who have moved to New York City (NYC). Many plants used as medicines were popular Dominican food plants. These plants were reported significantly more often by Dominicans living in NYC as compared to the DR, and this knowledge was not age-dependent. These results contradict the popular paradigm about loss of cultural plant knowledge and is the first study to report a statistically measurable increase in this type of knowledge associated with migration.

  4. Carbon cost of plant nitrogen acquisition: global carbon cycle impact from an improved plant nitrogen cycle in the Community Land Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Mingjie; Fisher, Joshua B; Brzostek, Edward R; Phillips, Richard P

    2016-03-01

    Plants typically expend a significant portion of their available carbon (C) on nutrient acquisition - C that could otherwise support growth. However, given that most global terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) do not include the C cost of nutrient acquisition, these models fail to represent current and future constraints to the land C sink. Here, we integrated a plant productivity-optimized nutrient acquisition model - the Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen Model - into one of the most widely used TBMs, the Community Land Model. Global plant nitrogen (N) uptake is dynamically simulated in the coupled model based on the C costs of N acquisition from mycorrhizal roots, nonmycorrhizal roots, N-fixing microbes, and retranslocation (from senescing leaves). We find that at the global scale, plants spend 2.4 Pg C yr(-1) to acquire 1.0 Pg N yr(-1) , and that the C cost of N acquisition leads to a downregulation of global net primary production (NPP) by 13%. Mycorrhizal uptake represented the dominant pathway by which N is acquired, accounting for ~66% of the N uptake by plants. Notably, roots associating with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi - generally considered for their role in phosphorus (P) acquisition - are estimated to be the primary source of global plant N uptake owing to the dominance of AM-associated plants in mid- and low-latitude biomes. Overall, our coupled model improves the representations of NPP downregulation globally and generates spatially explicit patterns of belowground C allocation, soil N uptake, and N retranslocation at the global scale. Such model improvements are critical for predicting how plant responses to altered N availability (owing to N deposition, rising atmospheric CO2 , and warming temperatures) may impact the land C sink. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Global Plant Stress Signaling: Reactive Oxygen Species at the Cross-Road

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nasser eSewelam

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Current technologies have changed biology into a data-intensive field and significantly increased our understanding of signal transduction pathways in plants. However, global defense signaling networks in plants have not been established yet. Considering the apparent intricate nature of signaling mechanisms in plants (due to their sessile nature, studying the points at which different signaling pathways converge, rather than the branches, represents a good start to unravel global plant signaling networks. In this regard, growing evidence shows that the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS is one of the most common plant responses to different stresses, representing a point at which various signaling pathways come together. In this review, the complex nature of plant stress signaling networks will be discussed. An emphasis on different signaling players with a specific attention to ROS as the primary source of the signaling battery in plants will be presented. The interactions between ROS and other signaling components, e.g. calcium, redox homeostasis, membranes, G-proteins, MAPKs, plant hormones and transcription factors will be assessed. A better understanding of the vital roles ROS are playing in plant signaling would help innovate new strategies to improve plant productivity under the circumstances of the increasing severity of environmental conditions and the high demand of food and energy worldwide

  6. Colloidal Stability in Asymmetric Electrolytes: Modifications of the Schulze-Hardy Rule.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trefalt, Gregor; Szilagyi, Istvan; Téllez, Gabriel; Borkovec, Michal

    2017-02-21

    The Schulze-Hardy rule suggests a strong dependence of the critical coagulation concentration (CCC) on the ionic valence. This rule is addressed theoretically and confronted with recent experimental results. The commonly presented derivation of this rule assumes symmetric electrolytes and highly charged particles. Both assumptions are incorrect. Symmetric electrolytes containing multivalent ions are hardly soluble, and experiments are normally carried out with the well-soluble salts of asymmetric electrolytes containing monovalent and multivalent ions. In this situation, however, the behavior is completely different whether the multivalent ions represent the counterions or co-ions. When these ions represent the counterions, meaning that the multivalent ions have the opposite sign than the charge of the particle, they adsorb strongly to the particles. Thereby, they progressively reduce the magnitude of the surface charge with increasing valence. In fact, this dependence of the charge density on the counterion valence is mainly responsible for the decrease of the CCC with the valence. In the co-ion case, where the multivalent ions have the same sign as the charge of the particle, the multivalent ions are repelled from the particles, and the surfaces remain highly charged. In this case, the inverse Schulze-Hardy rule normally applies, whereby the CCC varies inversely proportional to the co-ion valence.

  7. The Development of a Questionnaire on Academic Hardiness for Late Elementary School Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamtsios, Spiridon; Karagiannopoulou, Evangelia

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the research was to develop a questionnaire to measure dimensions of academic hardiness in late elementary school children. Questionnaires were distributed to 1474 children. After a set of exploratory factor analyses in studies 1 and 2, the confirmatory factor analysis results provided support for the 9-factor solution which…

  8. Globalization and Loss of Plant Knowledge: Challenging the Paradigm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vandebroek, Ina; Balick, Michael J.

    2012-01-01

    The erosion of cultural knowledge and traditions as a result of globalization and migration is a commonly reported phenomenon. We compared one type of cultural knowledge about medicinal plants (number of plants reported to treat thirty common health conditions) among Dominican laypersons who self-medicate with plants and live in rural or urban areas of the Dominican Republic (DR), and those who have moved to New York City (NYC). Many plants used as medicines were popular Dominican food plants. These plants were reported significantly more often by Dominicans living in NYC as compared to the DR, and this knowledge was not age-dependent. These results contradict the popular paradigm about loss of cultural plant knowledge and is the first study to report a statistically measurable increase in this type of knowledge associated with migration. PMID:22662184

  9. COLD HARDINESS AND RANGE OF THE MYRIAPOD Angarozonium amurense (POLYZONIIDAE, DIPLOPODA, ARTHROPODA) IN PERMAFROST ENVIRONMENTS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berman, D I; Meshcheryakova, E N; Mikhaljova, E V

    2015-01-01

    Angarozonium amurense (Gerstfeldt, 1859) is the only one out of more than a hundred diplopod species described in Siberia and the Far East that inhabits regions with solid permafrost. To evaluate the cold hardiness of A. amurense that allows this species to inhabit permafrost regions. The survival temperature thresholds and supercooling points (SCP) were measured. The temperature thresholds for adult animal survival are -8.5 C in summer and -27 C in winter. Average SCP decreases from -7.7 in summer to -16.9 in winter. Water content decreases from 55.7% in summer to 49.4% in winter. The cold hardiness of A. amurense sets the record in this class of animals. It allows it to overwinter in the upper 15 centimeters layer of soil in most biotopes of the coldest permafrost regions in North Asia.

  10. Smoke without fire: a reply to Hardy, Segatore and Edge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stones, M J; Turner, K

    1993-12-01

    Literacy is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as the ability to read and write, and illiteracy as an inability to read. Hardy, Segatore and Edge (1993) suggest a serious problem of illiteracy among student nurses that endangers patient safety. Their evidence is entirely anecdotal, some of which is misclassified as literacy errors. They provide no substantive or statistical evidence to support their claims. Educators making serious and provocative charges on such flimsy grounds ought either to recant or obtain evidence that is more convincing.

  11. A more accurate half-discrete Hardy-Hilbert-type inequality with the logarithmic function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Aizhen; Yang, Bicheng

    2017-01-01

    By means of the weight functions, the technique of real analysis and Hermite-Hadamard's inequality, a more accurate half-discrete Hardy-Hilbert-type inequality related to the kernel of logarithmic function and a best possible constant factor is given. Moreover, the equivalent forms, the operator expressions, the reverses and some particular cases are also considered.

  12. The Hardy inequality and the heat equation with magnetic field in any dimension

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Cazacu, C.; Krejčiřík, David

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 41, č. 7 (2016), s. 1056-1088 ISSN 0360-5302 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-06818S Institutional support: RVO:61389005 Keywords : Aharonov-Bohm magnetic field * Hardy inequality * heat equation * large time behaviour of solutions * magnetic Schrodinger operator Subject RIV: BE - Theoretical Physics Impact factor: 1.608, year: 2016

  13. Environmental Medicine Genome Bank (EMGB): Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium at an Eotaxin Locus on Chromosome 17

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Dikeidek, Murad

    2002-01-01

    ...), we determined the eotaxin ALA23-THR23 genotypes of 233 samples in the EMGB. The observed allele frequencies were then used to determine the distribution of genotypes that would be expected from the assumptions of the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium...

  14. Plant species richness and ecosystem multifunctionality in global drylands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maestre, Fernando T.; Quero, Jose L.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Escudero, Adrian; Ochoa, Victoria; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Garcia-Gomez, Miguel; Bowker, Matthew A.; Soliveres, Santiago; Escolar, Cristina; Garcia-Palacios, Pablo; Berdugo, Miguel; Valencia, Enrique; Gozalo, Beatriz; Gallardo, Antonio; Aguilera, Lorgio; Arredondo, Tulio; Blones, Julio; Boeken, Bertrand; Bran, Donaldo; Conceicao, Abel A.; Cabrera, Omar; Chaieb, Mohamed; Derak, Mchich; Eldridge, David J.; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitan, Juan; Gatica, M. Gabriel; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gomez-Gonzalez, Susana; Gutie, Julio R.; Hernandez, Rosa M.; Huang, Xuewen; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Mau, Rebecca L.; Morici, Ernesto; Naseri, Kamal; Ospina, Abelardo; Polo, Vicente; Prina, Anibal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramirez-Collantes, David A.; Romao, Roberto; Tighe, Matthew; Torres-Diaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, Jose P.; Wang, Deli; Zaady, Eli

    2012-01-01

    Experiments suggest that biodiversity enhances the ability of ecosystems to maintain multiple functions, such as carbon storage, productivity, and the buildup of nutrient pools (multifunctionality). However, the relationship between biodiversity and multifunctionality has never been assessed globally in natural ecosystems. We report here on a global empirical study relating plant species richness and abiotic factors to multifunctionality in drylands, which collectively cover 41% of Earth's land surface and support over 38% of the human population. Multifunctionality was positively and significantly related to species richness. The best-fitting models accounted for over 55% of the variation in multifunctionality and always included species richness as a predictor variable. Our results suggest that the preservation of plant biodiversity is crucial to buffer negative effects of climate change and desertification in drylands.

  15. Quantification of effective plant rooting depth: advancing global hydrological modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Y.; Donohue, R. J.; McVicar, T.

    2017-12-01

    Plant rooting depth (Zr) is a key parameter in hydrological and biogeochemical models, yet the global spatial distribution of Zr is largely unknown due to the difficulties in its direct measurement. Moreover, Zr observations are usually only representative of a single plant or several plants, which can differ greatly from the effective Zr over a modelling unit (e.g., catchment or grid-box). Here, we provide a global parameterization of an analytical Zr model that balances the marginal carbon cost and benefit of deeper roots, and produce a climatological (i.e., 1982-2010 average) global Zr map. To test the Zr estimates, we apply the estimated Zr in a highly transparent hydrological model (i.e., the Budyko-Choudhury-Porporato (BCP) model) to estimate mean annual actual evapotranspiration (E) across the globe. We then compare the estimated E with both water balance-based E observations at 32 major catchments and satellite grid-box retrievals across the globe. Our results show that the BCP model, when implemented with Zr estimated herein, optimally reproduced the spatial pattern of E at both scales and provides improved model outputs when compared to BCP model results from two already existing global Zr datasets. These results suggest that our Zr estimates can be effectively used in state-of-the-art hydrological models, and potentially biogeochemical models, where the determination of Zr currently largely relies on biome type-based look-up tables.

  16. A more accurate half-discrete Hardy-Hilbert-type inequality with the logarithmic function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aizhen Wang

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract By means of the weight functions, the technique of real analysis and Hermite-Hadamard’s inequality, a more accurate half-discrete Hardy-Hilbert-type inequality related to the kernel of logarithmic function and a best possible constant factor is given. Moreover, the equivalent forms, the operator expressions, the reverses and some particular cases are also considered.

  17. Predicting the level of job satisfaction based on hardiness and its components among nurses with tension headache.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahdavi, A; Nikmanesh, E; AghaeI, M; Kamran, F; Zahra Tavakoli, Z; Khaki Seddigh, F

    2015-01-01

    Nurses are the most significant part of human resources in a sanitary and health system. Job satisfaction results in the enhancement of organizational productivity, employee commitment to the organization and ensuring his/ her physical and mental health. The present research was conducted with the aim of predicting the level of job satisfaction based on hardiness and its components among the nurses with tension headache. The research method was correlational. The population consisted of all the nurses with tension headache who referred to the relevant specialists in Tehran. The sample size consisted of 50 individuals who were chosen by using the convenience sampling method and were measured and investigated by using the research tools of "Job Satisfaction Test" of Davis, Lofkvist and Weiss and "Personal Views Survey" of Kobasa. The data analysis was carried out by using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient and the Regression Analysis. The research findings demonstrated that the correlation coefficient obtained for "hardiness", "job satisfaction" was 0.506, and this coefficient was significant at the 0.01 level. Moreover, it was specified that the sense of commitment and challenge were stronger predictors for job satisfaction of nurses with tension headache among the components of hardiness, and, about 16% of the variance of "job satisfaction" could be explained by the two components (sense of commitment and challenge).

  18. GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank Information Management System

    Science.gov (United States)

    The mission of the GRIN-Global Project is to create a new, scalable version of the Germplasm Resource Information System (GRIN) to provide the world’s crop genebanks with a powerful, flexible, easy-to-use plant genetic resource (PGR) information management system. The system will help safeguard PGR ...

  19. Mapping local and global variability in plant trait distributions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Butler, Ethan E.; Datta, Abhirup; Flores-Moreno, Habacuc; Chen, Ming; Wythers, Kirk R.; Fazayeli, Farideh; Banerjee, Arindam; Atkin, Owen K.; Kattge, Jens; Amiaud, Bernard; Blonder, Benjamin; Boenisch, Gerhard; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Brown, Kerry A.; Byun, Chaeho; Campetella, Giandiego; Cerabolini, Bruno E.L.; Cornelissen, Johannes H.C.; Craine, Joseph M.; Craven, Dylan; Vries, De Franciska T.; Díaz, Sandra; Domingues, Tomas F.; Forey, Estelle; González-Melo, Andrés; Gross, Nicolas; Han, Wenxuan; Hattingh, Wesley N.; Hickler, Thomas; Jansen, Steven; Kramer, Koen; Kraft, Nathan J.B.; Kurokawa, Hiroko; Laughlin, Daniel C.; Meir, Patrick; Minden, Vanessa; Niinemets, Ülo; Onoda, Yusuke; Peñuelas, Josep; Read, Quentin; Sack, Lawren; Schamp, Brandon; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A.; Spasojevic, Marko J.; Sosinski, Enio; Thornton, Peter E.; Valladares, Fernando; Bodegom, Van Peter M.; Williams, Mathew; Wirth, Christian; Reich, Peter B.; Schlesinger, William H.

    2017-01-01

    Our ability to understand and predict the response of ecosystems to a changing environment depends on quantifying vegetation functional diversity. However, representing this diversity at the global scale is challenging. Typically, in Earth system models, characterization of plant diversity has been

  20. Will global warming affect soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dowdall, M.; Standring, W.; Shaw, G.; Strand, P.

    2008-01-01

    Recent assessments of global climate/environmental change are reaching a consensus that global climate change is occurring but there is significant uncertainty over the likely magnitude of this change and its impacts. There is little doubt that all aspects of the natural environment will be impacted to some degree. Soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides has long been a significant topic in radioecology, both for the protection of humans and the environment from the effects of ionising radiation. Even after five decades of research considerable uncertainty exists as to the interplay of key environmental processes in controlling soil-plant transfer. As many of these processes are, to a lesser or greater extent, climate-dependent, it can be argued that climate/environmental change will impact soil-to-plant transfer of radionuclides and subsequent transfers in specific environments. This discussion attempts to highlight the possible role of climatic and climate-dependent variables in soil-to-plant transfer processes within the overall predictions of climate/environmental change. The work is speculative, and intended to stimulate debate on a theme that radioecology has either ignored or avoided in recent years

  1. HUBUNGAN ANTARA HARDINESS (KEPRIBADIAN TAHAN BANTING DENGAN INTENSI TURNOVER PADA KARYAWAN PT SUMBER ALFARIA TRIJAYA Tbk DI WILAYAH GOMBONG KABUPATEN KEBUMEN

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ridwan Evendi

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menguji hubungan antara hardiness dengan intensi turnover pada karyawan PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk wilayah Gombong. Hipotesis yang diajukan dalam penelitian ini adalah ada hubungan negatif hardiness dengan intensi turnover pada karyawan. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif dengan populasi penelitian adalah seluruh karyawan PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya Tbk di wilayah Gombong. Teknik analisis data dengan menggunakan analisis korelasi product moment. Berdasarkan hasil analisis data diperoleh angka korelasi r = -0,742 pada taraf signifikansi 5% dengan nilai p = 0,000 (0,000

  2. ESTRESSE, COPING, BURNOUT, SINTOMAS DEPRESSIVOS E HARDINESS ENTRE DISCENTES DE ENFERMAGEM

    OpenAIRE

    Etiane de Oliveira Freitas

    2012-01-01

    Trata-se de uma pesquisa com abordagem quantitativa, do tipo exploratório, transversal, com o objetivo de analisar estresse, coping, burnout, sintomas depressivos e hardiness entre discentes de enfermagem. A pesquisa foi realizada numa universidade pública no interior do Rio Grande do Sul. A coleta dos dados deu-se nos meses de abril e maio de 2011. Seguiu-se um protocolo de pesquisa que consta de Formulário sociodemográfico e acadêmico dos discentes, Instrumento para Avaliação...

  3. Relationships between Teacher Organizational Commitment, Psychological Hardiness and Some Demographic Variables in Turkish Primary Schools

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sezgin, Ferudun

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between teachers' organizational commitment perceptions and both their psychological hardiness and some demographic variables in a sample of Turkish primary schools. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 405 randomly selected teachers working at primary schools in Ankara…

  4. Some s-numbers of an integral operator of Hardy type in Banach function spaces

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Edmunds, D.; Gogatishvili, Amiran; Kopaliani, T.; Samashvili, N.

    2016-01-01

    Roč. 207, July (2016), s. 76-97 ISSN 0021-9045 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA13-14743S Institutional support: RVO:67985840 Keywords : Hardy type operators * Banach function spaces * s- numbers * compact linear operators Subject RIV: BA - General Mathematics Impact factor: 0.931, year: 2016 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021904516000265

  5. Global energy balance - 2009 - Gerdau Acominas - Presidente Arthur Bernardes plant; Balanco energetico global - 2009 - Gerdau Acominas - Usina Presidente Arthur Bernardes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Coelho, Almir de Freitas Pinto; Moura, Cassio Melo

    2010-07-01

    The global energy balance of Gerdau Acominas 2009, with the main energetic consumption indicators of the producer areas is presented. Besides the global energetic indicators, the balance presents the physical specific insums of the diverse areas, allowing the analysis of each plant sector in independent way. During the year 2009 it his highlighted the following points: production reduction due to the word economic crisis; 25 years revision of the boilers; stop of de blast-furnace 1 and the coke plant 2.

  6. Global freshwater thermal emissions from steam-electric power plants with once-through cooling systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raptis, Catherine E.; Pfister, Stephan

    2016-01-01

    Large quantities of heat are rejected into freshwater bodies from power plants employing once-through cooling systems, often leading to temperature increases that disturb aquatic ecosystems. The objective of this work was to produce a high resolution global picture of power-related freshwater thermal emissions and to analyse the technological, geographical and chronological patterns behind them. The Rankine cycle was systematically solved for ∼2400 generating units with once-through cooling systems, distinguishing between simple and cogenerative cycles, giving the rejected heat as a direct output. With large unit sizes, low efficiencies, and high capacity factors, nuclear power plants reject 3.7 GW heat into freshwater on average, contrasting with 480 MW rejected from coal and gas power plants. Together, nuclear and coal-fuelled power plants from the 1970s and 1980s account for almost 50% of the rejected heat worldwide, offering motivation for their phasing out in the future. Globally, 56% of the emissions are rejected into rivers, pointing to potential areas of high thermal pollution, with the rest entering lakes and reservoirs. The outcome of this work can be used to further investigate the identified thermal emission hotspots, and to calculate regionalized water temperature increase and related impacts in environmental, energy-water nexus studies and beyond. - Highlights: • The thermodynamic cycles of ∼2400 power units with once-through cooling were solved. • Global freshwater heat emissions depend on technology, geography & chronology. • Half the global emissions come from nuclear and coal plants from the 70s & 80s. • Hotspots of freshwater thermal emissions were identified globally. • Global georeferenced emissions are available for use in water temperature models.

  7. Climatic Crisis: Place, Taste and Race in Hardy Wilson’s 'Dawn of a New Civilization' (1929

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Deborah van der Plaat

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available In 1929, the Australian architect and author William Hardy Wilson (1881–1950 identified architectural practice within Australia as degenerate and in decline. He attributed this regression not to changing tastes or styles but to the increasing number of native-born architects and their long-term exposure to a subtropical or tropical climate. Wilson believed that Australia’s warmer climates negatively affected the nation’s future capacity for innovation and invention and the development of national style. Central to Wilson’s thesis was the proposition that climate was the primary determinant of artistic agency. The importance of this idea was twofold. First, it enabled Wilson to develop a critique of the White Australia policies which were introduced in 1901 and which grew in influence in the early decades of twentieth-century Australia. Second, it helped Wilson to locate Australian architectural practice within a global theory of civilisation. In documenting the crisis that Wilson saw within the architecture of Australia, the paper considers this aspect of his work in detail for the first time.

  8. A global database of sap flow measurements (SAPFLUXNET) to link plant and ecosystem physiology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poyatos, Rafael; Granda, Víctor; Flo, Víctor; Molowny-Horas, Roberto; Mencuccini, Maurizio; Oren, Ram; Katul, Gabriel; Mahecha, Miguel; Steppe, Kathy; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi

    2017-04-01

    Regional and global networks of ecosystem CO2 and water flux monitoring have dramatically increased our understanding of ecosystem functioning in the last 20 years. More recently, analyses of ecosystem-level fluxes have successfully incorporated data streams at coarser (remote sensing) and finer (plant traits) organisational scales. However, there are few data sources that capture the diel to seasonal dynamics of whole-plant physiology and that can provide a link between organism- and ecosystem-level function. Sap flow measured in plant stems reveals the temporal patterns in plant water transport, as mediated by stomatal regulation and hydraulic architecture. The widespread use of thermometric methods of sap flow measurement since the 1990s has resulted in numerous data sets for hundreds of species and sites worldwide, but these data have remained fragmentary and generally unavailable for syntheses of regional to global scope. We are compiling the first global database of sub-daily sap flow measurements in individual plants (SAPFLUXNET), aimed at unravelling the environmental and biotic drivers of plant transpiration regulation globally. I will present the SAPFLUXNET data infrastructure and workflow, which is built upon flexible, open-source computing tools within the R environment (dedicated R packages and classes, interactive documents and apps with Rmarkdown and Shiny). Data collection started in mid-2016, we have already incorporated > 50 datasets representing > 40 species and > 350 individual plants, globally distributed, and the number of contributed data sets is increasing rapidly. I will provide a general overview of the distribution of available data sets according to climate, measurement method, species, functional groups and plant size attributes. In parallel to the sap flow data compilation, we have also collated published results from calibrations of sap flow methods, to provide a first quantification on the variability associated with different sap

  9. Physiology of diapause and cold hardiness in the overwintering pupae of the fall webworm Hyphantria cunea (Lepidoptera: Arctiidae) in Japan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Y -P.; Goto, M; Ito, S; Sato, Y; Sasaki, K; Goto, N

    2001-09-01

    The fall webworm Hyphantria cunea Drury, which was accidentally introduced to Japan in 1945, overwinters on the ground in pupal diapause. Diapause termination, as indicated by the respiration rate and the period required for adult emergence, began in March and ended in April. Cold hardiness (the ability to survive exposure to -15 degrees C) decreased linearly with diapause development from November to the following April under field conditions. Cold hardiness of diapause pupae (DP) decreased as the acclimation temperature decreased from 15 to -10 degrees C, whereas cold hardiness of non-diapause pupae (NDP) remained high as the acclimation temperature decreased from 5 to -5 degrees C. However, H. cunea in Japan can survive exposure to -5 degrees C for two weeks, whether it is in a diapause or non-diapause state. Trehalose was the main sugar detected in the body, but its level was less than 0.8%. Trehalose levels increased in field-collected pupae from January to March. DP accumulated less trehalose than NDP, as the acclimation temperature was decreased from 5 to -5 degrees C. The alanine content in field-collected pupae increased from November to February. Both diapause and low temperature caused an accumulation of alanine. These results suggest that under field conditions, overwintering pupae of H. cunea in Japan do not accumulate high levels of sugars and polyols and do not develop a high level of cold hardiness. Furthermore, DP do not accumulate high levels of sugars and polyols and their ability to survive exposure to -15 degrees C is not greater than that of NDP. The physiological and biochemical bases of diapause in H. cunea from Japan are discussed.

  10. TRY – a global database of plant traits

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kattge, J.; Diaz, S.; Lavorel, S.

    2011-01-01

    species richness to ecosystem functional diversity. Trait data thus represent the raw material for a wide range of research from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology to biogeography. Here we present the global database initiative named TRY, which has united a wide range of the plant...... trait research community worldwide and gained an unprecedented buy‐in of trait data: so far 93 trait databases have been contributed. The data repository currently contains almost three million trait entries for 69 000 out of the world's 300 000 plant species, with a focus on 52 groups of traits...... is between species (interspecific), but significant intraspecific variation is also documented, up to 40% of the overall variation. Plant functional types (PFTs), as commonly used in vegetation models, capture a substantial fraction of the observed variation – but for several traits most variation occurs...

  11. Relationship between Quality of Life, Hardiness,Self-efficacy and Self-esteem amongst Employed and Unemployed Married Women in Zabol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Promila Vasudeva

    2006-07-01

    Full Text Available Objective: Examining the interrelationship between quality of life, hardiness, selfefficacy and self-esteem among working (professional and non-professional, and non-working married women has motivated the researcher to launch this study. Method: The samples in the present study consisted of 250 married employed women and 250 married unemployed women in the age range of 24-41 years old belonging to lower, middle, and upper socioeconomic status groups, with educational qualification of 10±2 and above and having at least one school child. Stratified convenience sampling technique was used for the selection of the sample. The World Health Organization -Quality of Life (WHO QOL – BREF, the Personal View Survey (PVS, the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE, The Coopersmith Self-Eesteem Inventory (CSEI and demographic questionnaire Sheet were chosen for collection of the data. Results: Obtained Pearson r values revealed significant positive interrelationship between quality of life, hardiness, self-efficacy, and self-esteem in the whole sample, within the subgroups of professional and non-professional employed and unemployed women. Obtained pearson r values revealed significant negative relationship between employment and the above variables in women. Conclusion: It indicates that women with higher quality of life score rank also higher on hardiness, self-efficacy, and self-esteem and vice versa.

  12. As Luck Would Have It: Thomas Hardy's "Bildungsroman" on Leading a Human Life

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laverty, Megan Jane

    2014-01-01

    In this essay, I demonstrate the value of the Bildungsroman for philosophy of education on the grounds that these narratives raise and explore educational questions. I focus on a short story in the Bildungsroman tradition, Thomas Hardy's "A Mere Interlude". This story describes the maturation of its heroine by narrating a series of…

  13. Expansion of plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism under global environment change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, K.; D'Odorico, P.; Collins, S. L.; Carr, D.

    2016-12-01

    The abundance of plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM) has increased in many drylands worldwide. This is hypothesized to occur because CAM plants store water, take up CO2 at night, exhibit photosynthetic plasticity, and have high water use efficiency. The increased dominance of CAM plants, however, also depends on their competitive relationship with other functional groups, an aspect of CAM plant sensitivity to global environmental change that has remained largely understudied. Here, we investigated the response of CAM plants and their competitive relationships with C3 and C4 plants under global environmental change. We focused on two pairs of CAM and non-CAM species, namely Cylindropuntia imbricata (a constitutive CAM species) and Bouteloua eriopoda (C4 grass), which co-occur in desert grasslands in northern Mexico, and invasive Mesembryanthemum crystallinum (a facultative CAM species) and Bromus mollis (a C3 invasive grass), which coexist in California's coastal grasslands. A set of growth chamber experiments under altered CO2 and water conditions show that C. imbricata outcompeted B. eriopoda under drought conditions, while in well-watered conditions B. eriopoda was a stronger competitor for soil water than C. imbricata. Under drought conditions a more positive response to CO2 enrichment by C. imbricata indirectly disfavored B. eriopoda, which suggests that interspecific competition can outweigh the favorable direct effect of CO2 enrichment on plant growth. A set of greenhouse experiments under water, N, and soil salinity manipulations showed that drought, N deposition, and/or increased soil salinity served as important drivers for success of M. crystallinum invasion, while B. mollis exerted strong competitive effects on M. crystallinum for light and soil nutrients in well-watered conditions. M. crystallinum switched from C3 photosynthesis to CAM photosynthesis as an adaptive strategy in response to moderate intensity of competition from B. mollis, in

  14. Vitrification in plants as a natural form of cryoprotection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hirsh, A G

    1987-06-01

    A small group of woody plants from the far northern hemisphere can, while in the dormant state, tolerate freezing and thawing to and from any subzero temperature at rates less than 30 degrees C/hr. In addition, the hardiest of them can tolerate cooling and warming between -20 degrees C and any colder temperature at virtually any combination of rates subsequent to cooling to -20 degrees C at rates less than 5 degrees C/hr. We term this latter capability "quench hardiness." I and my colleagues have shown that the limits of this quench hardiness can be closely correlated to the stability of intracellular glasses formed during the slow cooling of hardy tissues in the presence of extracellular ice. In this paper, I briefly review the evidence for intracellular glass formation and present data indicating that major components of the glass forming solutions are raffinose and stachyose. Evidence from differential scanning calorimetry that sugar-binding soluble proteins are also important is presented. Finally, I correlate data from our work with that of other workers to make the case that, even when most of a cytoplasmic solution is vitrified, fluid microdomains remain which can lead to long-term biodegradation during storage at high subzero temperatures.

  15. Evolutionary History Underlies Plant Physiological Responses to Global Change Since the Last Glacial Maximum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Becklin, K. M.; Medeiros, J. S.; Sale, K. R.; Ward, J. K.

    2014-12-01

    Assessing family and species-level variation in physiological responses to global change across geologic time is critical for understanding factors that underlie changes in species distributions and community composition. Ancient plant specimens preserved within packrat middens are invaluable in this context since they allow for comparisons between co-occurring plant lineages. Here we used modern and ancient plant specimens preserved within packrat middens from the Snake Range, NV to investigate the physiological responses of a mixed montane conifer community to global change since the last glacial maximum. We used a conceptual model to infer relative changes in stomatal conductance and maximum photosynthetic capacity from measures of leaf carbon isotopes, stomatal characteristics, and leaf nitrogen content. Our results indicate that most of the sampled taxa decreased stomatal conductance and/or photosynthetic capacity from glacial to modern times. However, plant families differed in the timing and magnitude of these physiological responses. Additionally, leaf-level responses were more similar within plant families than within co-occurring species assemblages. This suggests that adaptation at the level of leaf physiology may not be the main determinant of shifts in community composition, and that plant evolutionary history may drive physiological adaptation to global change over recent geologic time.

  16. The Effectiveness of Group Training of CBT-Based Stress Management on Anxiety, Psychological Hardiness and General Self-Efficacy Among University Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molla Jafar, Hamdam; Salabifard, Seddigheh; Mousavi, Seyedeh Maryam; Sobhani, Zahra

    2015-09-28

    Admission to university is a very sensitive period of life for efficient, active, and young workforces in any country, and it is mostly associated with many changes in social and human relationships. These changes lead to anxiety in students. Moreover, humans need certain functions in order to adaptively deal with different life situations and challenges. By training stress management, these functions can help human acquire the required abilities. The present study was aimed at investigating the effectiveness of stress management training in anxiety, psychological hardiness, and general self-efficacy among university students. The study was a quasi-experimental intervention (pretest-posttest-follow-up) including a control group, it was a fundamental applied study. The statistical population consisted of all students of Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran. Convenient sampling was employed to select 30 students who were divided into an experimental group (n=15) and a control group (n=15). Before stress management training, both groups filled out Beck Anxiety Inventory, Long and Goulet scale of psychological hardiness, and General Self-efficacy Scale (GSE-10). Afterwards, the experimental group was provided with stress management training. And after the experiment, the abovementioned questionnaires and scales were responded by the two groups. Finally the collected data were analyzed and compared using one-way MANOVA. The results of MANOVA indicated that there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of anxiety, hardiness, and general self-efficacy (pstress management among university students cause anxiety to drop; moreover, it enhances their psychological hardiness and self-efficacy. In regard with the role and importance of stress management, training this skill should be included in educational plans of university.

  17. On weighted hardy inequalities on semiaxis for functions vanishing at the endpoints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vladimir Stepanov

    1997-01-01

    Full Text Available We study the weighted Hardy inequalities on the semiaxis of the form ‖Fu‖2≤C‖F(kv‖2  (1 for functions vanishing at the endpoints together with derivatives up to the order k−1. The case k=2 is completely characterized.

  18. GLObal RIsk MANagement system for plant operations GLORIMAN

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silverman, Eugene B.

    2004-01-01

    Considerable effort has been expended by nuclear power plants in the preparation of their Independent Plant Evaluation (IPE) programs. The result of these projects is the generation of very useful information concerning plant operations, states, availability and risk. The potential application of this information is often unrealized due to the unwieldy form of the data as reported in the IPE. Plant personnel would benefit greatly from quick access to risk information as a means of supporting day-to-day decisions, but the information exists only in a difficult to understand and inaccessible form. There is a need to translate the costs invested in Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) projects into a useable tool for plant personnel. This paper describes a software tool developed by ARD Corporation to be used by plants to assist in determining the operational risks and benefits associated with modifying the plant state during normal and off-normal operations for performing maintenance. This tool integrates a relational database with an easy-to-use graphical user interface and several unique software features. The result is a responsive, easy-to-understand tool that integrates an organization's PRA/IPE into the operational and maintenance needs of the station. The Global Risk Management System is designed to allow the user to evaluate the risk associated with current and proposed plant states. The impact of changes in plant configuration, operational modes and equipment availability are assessed from a risk management perspective, but displayed in an easy-to-understand form for personnel not familiar with risk methodology. Additionally, pipe and instrumentation drawings can be retrieved by the user and displayed as a reference tool. (author)

  19. Quantitative Quality Assurance in a Multicenter HARDI Clinical Trial at 3T

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Xiaopeng; Sakaie, Ken E.; Debbins, Josef P.; Kirsch, John E.; Tatsuoka, Curtis; Fox, Robert J.; Lowe, Mark J.

    2016-01-01

    A phantom-based quality assurance (QA) protocol was developed for a multicenter clinical trial including high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI). A total of 27 3T MR scanners from 2 major manufacturers, GE (Discovery and Signa scanners) and Siemens (Trio and Skyra scanners), were included in this trial. With this protocol, agar phantoms doped to mimic relaxation properties of brain tissue are scanned on a monthly basis, and quantitative procedures are used to detect spiking and to evaluate eddy current and Nyquist ghosting artifacts. In this study, simulations were used to determine alarm thresholds for minimal acceptable signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Our results showed that spiking artifact was the most frequently observed type of artifact. Overall, Trio scanners exhibited less eddy current distortion than GE scanners, which in turn showed less distortion than Skyra scanners. This difference was mainly caused by the different sequences used on these scanners. The SNR for phantom scans was closely correlated with the SNR from volunteers. Nearly all of the phantom measurements with artifact-free images were above the alarm threshold, suggesting that the scanners are stable longitudinally. Software upgrades and hardware replacement sometimes affected SNR substantially but sometimes did not. In light of these results, it is important to monitor longitudinal SNR with phantom QA to help interpret potential effects on in vivo measurements. Our phantom QA procedure for HARDI scans was successful in tracking scanner performance and detecting unwanted artifacts. PMID:27587227

  20. Principle of maximum Fisher information from Hardy's axioms applied to statistical systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frieden, B Roy; Gatenby, Robert A

    2013-10-01

    Consider a finite-sized, multidimensional system in parameter state a. The system is either at statistical equilibrium or general nonequilibrium, and may obey either classical or quantum physics. L. Hardy's mathematical axioms provide a basis for the physics obeyed by any such system. One axiom is that the number N of distinguishable states a in the system obeys N=max. This assumes that N is known as deterministic prior knowledge. However, most observed systems suffer statistical fluctuations, for which N is therefore only known approximately. Then what happens if the scope of the axiom N=max is extended to include such observed systems? It is found that the state a of the system must obey a principle of maximum Fisher information, I=I(max). This is important because many physical laws have been derived, assuming as a working hypothesis that I=I(max). These derivations include uses of the principle of extreme physical information (EPI). Examples of such derivations were of the De Broglie wave hypothesis, quantum wave equations, Maxwell's equations, new laws of biology (e.g., of Coulomb force-directed cell development and of in situ cancer growth), and new laws of economic fluctuation and investment. That the principle I=I(max) itself derives from suitably extended Hardy axioms thereby eliminates its need to be assumed in these derivations. Thus, uses of I=I(max) and EPI express physics at its most fundamental level, its axiomatic basis in math.

  1. Global Patterns of the Isotopic Composition of Soil and Plant Nitrogen

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amundson, R.; Yoo, K.

    2014-12-01

    From a societal perspective, soil N follows only soil C in the importance of soil to 21st century environmental issues. Amundson et al (2003) developed a mass balance model for soil N and the ratio of 15N/14N, and provided the first global projections of the spatial patterns of soil and plant δ15N values. It was hypothesized that state factors, particularly climate, should drive broad patterns of soil and plant δ15N values in a manner analogous to the known patterns of total soil N (e.g. Post et al., 1984). At that time, the N isotope data available to explore the effect of individual factors was modest. In the past decade, numerous papers from a broad spectrum of locations have created a rich database that can be used to further refine the initial projections made more than a decade ago. In this paper, hundreds of published measurements will be used to more deeply examine the climatic impacts on soil and plant δ15N values. Additionally, we will focus on the local controls of topography on ecosystem N cycling, which can create local isotopic variation that is similar in magnitude to the global effects of climate. The adoption of process-based models from the hillslope geomorphology community appears to be a powerful tool for explaining some existing data from toposequences, designing new studies of topographic controls on biogeochemistry, and particularly for parameterization in global models. Amundson, R., A.T. Austin, E.A.G. Schuur, K. Yoo, V. Matzek, C. Kendall, A. Uebersax, D. Brenner, and W.T. Baisden. 2003. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 17(1):1031.

  2. “The return of the native by Thomas Hardy: Eustacia Vye or the bovarysme embodied in Wessex”

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thierry Goater

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Thomas Hardy (1840-1928 is one of the great English novelists of the late Victorian era. Far from the Madding Crowd, The Return of the Native, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the d’Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure are among his most famous novels. If he was not directly influenced by Gustave Flaubert’s aesthetics, Hardy was very much inspired by the heroine of Madame Bovary. Indeed, quite a few of Hardy’s female characters, whether in his novels or in his short stories, suffer with varying degrees from ‘bovarysme’, the disease of imagination and affectivity which is one of Emma Bovary’s central features. This paper aims to shed light on the posterity of Flaubert’s character through Eustacia Vye, the heroine of The Return of the Native, to show to what extent she represents not a pale imitation but an original variation on an essential model of Western literature. 

  3. Temporal plasticity in cold hardiness and cryoprotectant contents in northern versus temperate Colias butterflies (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Vrba, Pavel; Nedvěd, Oldřich; Zahradníčková, Helena; Konvička, Martin

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 38, č. 4 (2017), s. 330-338 ISSN 0143-2044 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-33733S Institutional support: RVO:60077344 Keywords : butterfly ecology * cold hardiness * cryoprotectant compounds Subject RIV: ED - Physiology OBOR OECD: Biology (theoretical, mathematical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), Evolutionary biology Impact factor: 0.628, year: 2016

  4. Taiwanese Students' Science Learning Self-Efficacy and Teacher and Student Science Hardiness: A Multilevel Model Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ya-Ling; Tsai, Chin-Chung

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed to investigate the factors accounting for science learning self-efficacy (the specific beliefs that people have in their ability to complete tasks in science learning) from both the teacher and the student levels. We thus propose a multilevel model to delineate its relationships with teacher and student science hardiness (i.e.,…

  5. OB/GYN boot cAMP using high-fidelity human simulators: enhancing residents' perceived competency, confidence in taking a leadership role, and stress hardiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pliego, Jose F; Wehbe-Janek, Hania; Rajab, M Hasan; Browning, Jeff L; Fothergill, Russell E

    2008-01-01

    To evaluate the effectiveness of an obstetrical and gynecologic (Ob/Gyn) Boot Camp simulation training on perceived technical competency, confidence in a leadership role, and stress hardiness of resident training. We conducted a prospective pilot study on the effectiveness of an Ob/Gyn Boot Camp on resident training. Residents participated in an intensive immersion in clinical simulation of common obstetrical emergencies including shoulder dystocia, neonatal resuscitation, postpartum hemorrhage, and ruptured ectopic pregnancy. After the training, residents completed a Web-based survey on their perceptions of how the Ob/Gyn Boot Camp affected their 1) technical competency in the assessment and management of their patients, 2) confidence in taking a leadership role, and 3) stress hardiness. Residents rated their perceptions on a Likert scale of 1 to 5, 1 = poor to 5 = excellent. Twenty-three (14 Ob/Gyn and 9 family medicine) residents participated in this pilot study. Eighteen (78%) residents completed the online survey; 4 Ob/Gyn and 1 family medicine resident did not complete the survey. The residents reported that the simulation training stimulated an interest in learning key skills for obstetrical and gynecologic emergencies. Ob/Gyn residents reported significant improvement in their perceived technical competence and stress hardiness after the Boot Camp. However both Ob/Gyn and family medicine residents reported no significant improvement of confidence in their leadership abilities during obstetrical emergencies after the Boot Camp. Boot Camp simulation training early in the curriculum has the potential for enhancing residents' self-assessments of confidence, competency, and stress hardiness in managing obstetrical emergencies.

  6. ANALISIS TINGKAT OPTIMASI ALGORITMA GENETIKA DALAM HUKUM KETETAPAN HARDY-WEINBERG PADA BIN PACKING PROBLEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Terry Noviar Panggabean

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstrak—Karna representasi abstrak dari beberapa sistem pengambilan keputusan yang nyata dalam kehidupan sehari hari membuat masalah optimasi kombinatorial umumnya sangat sulit untuk dipecahkan. Bin packing problem ialah solusi terbaik dalam mengatasi masalah optimasi kombinatorial, yang digunakan untuk mencari sebuah objek secara optimal dari sekelompok himpunan objek yang berhingga. Serangkaian pendekatan hybrid telah dikembangkan dalam hal ini untuk memecahkan masalah Bin Packing. Metaheuristik adalah salah satu pendekatan tingkat tinggi dalam memandu dalam memodifikasi beberapa metode heuristik lainnya untuk mencari tingkat optimasi yang lebih baik. Genetic Algorithm atau Algoritma Genetika juga merupakan metode metaheuristik yang digunakan untuk menyelesaikan berbagai masalah dalam hal peningkatan optimasi. Dalam algoritma genetika terdapat bermacam-macam varian. Dalam penelitian dipaparkan mengenai taksonomi dari algoritma genetika parallel (Parallel Genetic Algorithm yang memiliki kemampuan yang lebih baik dari algoritma genetika konvensional dalam hal kinerja dan skalabilitasnya. Tetapi algoritma genetika paralel ini hanya cocok untuk permasalahan jaringan komputer heterogen dan sistem terdistribusi. Berdasarkan penelitian yang sudah pernah dilakukan sebelumnya dan dari uraian diatas maka penulis tertarik untuk melakukan penelitian bagaimana menerapkan hukum ketetapan Hardy-Weinberg dari bidang biologi kedalam algoritma genetika melakukan analisis tingkat optimasi terhadap Bin Packing Problem..   Keywords— Genetic Algortihm, Hardy-Weinberg, Bin Packing Problem.

  7. Cold temperatures increase cold hardiness in the next generation Ophraella communa beetles.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhong-Shi Zhou

    Full Text Available The leaf beetle, Ophraella communa, has been introduced to control the spread of the common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia, in China. We hypothesized that the beetle, to be able to track host-range expansion into colder climates, can phenotypically adapt to cold temperatures across generations. Therefore, we questioned whether parental experience of colder temperatures increases cold tolerance of the progeny. Specifically, we studied the demography, including development, fecundity, and survival, as well as physiological traits, including supercooling point (SCP, water content, and glycerol content of O. communa progeny whose parents were maintained at different temperature regimes. Overall, the entire immature stage decreased survival of about 0.2%-4.2% when parents experienced cold temperatures compared to control individuals obtained from parents raised at room temperature. However, intrinsic capacity for increase (r, net reproductive rate (R 0 and finite rate of increase (λ of progeny O. communa were maximum when parents experienced cold temperatures. Glycerol contents of both female and male in progeny was significantly higher when maternal and paternal adults were cold acclimated as compared to other treatments. This resulted in the supercooling point of the progeny adults being significantly lower compared to beetles emerging from parents that experienced room temperatures. These results suggest that cold hardiness of O. communa can be promoted by cold acclimation in previous generation, and it might counter-balance reduced survival in the next generation, especially when insects are tracking their host-plants into colder climates.

  8. Chemical control of Phytophthora ramorum causing foliar disease in hardy nursery stock in the United Kingdom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Judith Turner; Philip Jennings; Sam McDonough; Debbie Liddell; Jackie Stonehouse

    2006-01-01

    A range of fungicides have been tested for activity against P. ramorum using both in vitro and in vivo tests. All fungicides had proven activity against Phytophthora species and either had full approval for use on hardy ornamental nursery stock in the United Kingdom, or could be used under the Revised Long Term Arrangements for Extension of Use (2002...

  9. Plant invasions in mountains: Global lessons for better management

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDougall, K.L.; Khuroo, A.A.; Loope, L.L.; Parks, C.G.; Pauchard, A.; Reshi, Z.A.; Rushworth, I.; Kueffer, C.

    2011-01-01

    Mountains are one of few ecosystems little affected by plant invasions. However, the threat of invasion is likely to increase because of climate change, greater anthropogenic land use, and continuing novel introductions. Preventive management, therefore, will be crucial but can be difficult to promote when more pressing problems are unresolved and predictions are uncertain. In this essay, we use management case studies from 7 mountain regions to identify common lessons for effective preventive action. The degree of plant invasion in mountains was variable in the 7 regions as was the response to invasion, which ranged from lack of awareness by land managers of the potential impact in Chile and Kashmir to well-organized programs of prevention and containment in the United States (Hawaii and the Pacific Northwest), including prevention at low altitude. In Australia, awareness of the threat grew only after disruptive invasions. In South Africa, the economic benefits of removing alien plants are well recognized and funded in the form of employment programs. In the European Alps, there is little need for active management because no invasive species pose an immediate threat. From these case studies, we identify lessons for management of plant invasions in mountain ecosystems: (i) prevention is especially important in mountains because of their rugged terrain, where invasions can quickly become unmanageable; (ii) networks at local to global levels can assist with awareness raising and better prioritization of management actions; (iii) the economic importance of management should be identified and articulated; (iv) public acceptance of management programs will make them more effective; and (v) climate change needs to be considered. We suggest that comparisons of local case studies, such as those we have presented, have a pivotal place in the proactive solution of global change issues. ?? International Mountain Society.

  10. Carbon plants nutrition and global food security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mariani, Luigi

    2017-02-01

    To evaluate the effects of carbon nutrition on agricultural productivity, a physiological-process-based crop simulation model, driven by the 1961-1990 monthly climate data from global FAO dataset, was developed and applied to four crops (wheat, maize, rice and soybean -WMRS) which account for 64% of the global caloric consumption of humans. Five different temperatures and CO2 scenarios (current; glacial; pre-industrial; future_1 with 560 ppmv for CO2 and +2 °C for temperature; and future_2 with 800 ppmv for CO2 and +4 °C) were investigated. The relative values of WMRS global productions for past and future scenarios were, respectively, 49% of the present-day scenario for glacial, 82% for pre-industrial, 115% for future_1 and 124% for future_2. A sensitive growth of productivity of future scenarios (respectively to 117% and 134%) was observed if the northward shift of crops was allowed, and a strong increase was obtained without water limitation (from 151% to 157% for the five scenarios) and without biotic and abiotic stresses (from 30% to 40% for WMRS subject to the current scenario). Furthermore since the beginning of the Green Revolution (roughly happened between the '30s and the '50s of the twentieth century) production losses due to sub-optimal levels of CO2 and to biotic and abiotic stresses have been masked by the strong technological innovation trend still ongoing, which, in the last century, led to a strong increase in the global crop production (+400%-600%). These results show the crucial relevance of the future choices of research and development in agriculture (genetics, land reclamation, irrigation, plant protection, and so on) to ensure global food security.

  11. Clustering of Whole-Brain White Matter Short Association Bundles Using HARDI Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudio Román

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Human brain connectivity is extremely complex and variable across subjects. While long association and projection bundles are stable and have been deeply studied, short association bundles present higher intersubject variability, and few studies have been carried out to adequately describe the structure, shape, and reproducibility of these bundles. However, their analysis is crucial to understand brain function and better characterize the human connectome. In this study, we propose an automatic method to identify reproducible short association bundles of the superficial white matter, based on intersubject hierarchical clustering. The method is applied to the whole brain and finds representative clusters of similar fibers belonging to a group of subjects, according to a distance metric between fibers. We experimented with both affine and non-linear registrations and, due to better reproducibility, chose the results obtained from non-linear registration. Once the clusters are calculated, our method performs automatic labeling of the most stable connections based on individual cortical parcellations. We compare results between two independent groups of subjects from a HARDI database to generate reproducible connections for the creation of an atlas. To perform a better validation of the results, we used a bagging strategy that uses pairs of groups of 27 subjects from a database of 74 subjects. The result is an atlas with 44 bundles in the left hemisphere and 49 in the right hemisphere, of which 33 bundles are found in both hemispheres. Finally, we use the atlas to automatically segment 78 new subjects from a different HARDI database and to analyze stability and lateralization results.

  12. The context and development of a global framework for plant conservation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jackson, Peter Wyse; Sharrock, Suzanne

    2011-01-01

    A new international initiative for plant conservation was first called for as a resolution of the International Botanical Congress in 1999. The natural home for such an initiative was considered to be the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the CBD agreed to consider a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) at its 5th meeting in 2000. It was proposed that the GSPC could provide an innovative model approach for target setting within the CBD and, prior to COP5, a series of inter-sessional papers on proposed targets and their justification were developed by plant conservation experts. Key factors that ensured the adoption of the GSPC by the CBD in 2002 included: (1) ensuring that prior to and during COP5, key Parties in each region were supportive of the Strategy; (2) setting targets at the global level and not attempting to impose these nationally; and (3) the offer by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) to support a GSPC position in the CBD Secretariat for 3 years, which provided a clear indication of the support for the GSPC from non-governmental organizations (NGO).

  13. Estimating Net Primary Productivity Beneath Snowpack Using Snowpack Radiative Transfer Modeling and Global Satellite Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barber, D. E.; Peterson, M. C.

    2002-05-01

    Sufficient photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) penetrates snow for plants to grow beneath snowpack during late winter or early spring in tundra ecosystems. During the spring in this ecosystem, the snowpack creates an environment with higher humidity and less variable and milder temperatures than on the snow-free land. Under these conditions, the amount of PAR available is likely to be the limiting factor for plant growth. Current methods for determining net primary productivity (NPP) of tundra ecosystems do not account for this plant growth beneath snowpack, apparently resulting in underestimating plant production there. We are currently in the process of estimating the magnitude of this early growth beneath snow for tundra ecosystems. Our method includes a radiative transfer model that simulates diffuse and direct PAR penetrating snowpack based on downwelling PAR values and snow depth data from global satellite databases. These PAR levels are convolved with plant growth for vegetation that thrives beneath snowpacks, such as lichen. We expect to present the net primary production for Cladonia species (a common Arctic lichen) that has the capability of photosynthesizing at low temperatures beneath snowpack. This method may also be used to study photosynthesis beneath snowpacks in other hardy plants. Lichens are used here as they are common in snow-covered regions, flourish under snowpack, and provide an important food source for tundra herbivores (e.g. caribou). In addition, lichens are common in arctic-alpine environments and our results can be applied to these ecosystems as well. Finally, the NPP of lichen beneath snowpack is relatively well understood compared to other plants, making it ideal vegetation for this first effort at estimating the potential importance of photosynthesis at large scales. We are examining other candidate plants for their photosynthetic potential beneath snowpack at this time; however, little research has been done on this topic. We

  14. The recent activities of nuclear power globalization. Our provision against global warming by global deployment of our own technologies as integrated nuclear power plant supply company'

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamauchi, Kiyoshi; Suzuki, Shigemitsu

    2008-01-01

    Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) is striving to expand and spread nuclear power plants as an 'Integrated Nuclear Power Plant Supply Company' based on its engineering, manufacturing, and technological support capabilities. The company also has ample experience in the export of major components. MHI is accelerating its global deployment through the market introduction of large-sized strategic reactor US-APWR, the joint development of a mid-sized strategic reactor ATMEA1 with AREVA, and a small strategic reactor PBMR. The company also plans to internationally deploy technologies for the nuclear fuel cycle. We present here the leading-edge trends in the global deployment of these nuclear businesses, all of which help to solve the energy and environmental issues in the world. (author)

  15. Global sensitivity analysis in wastewater treatment plant model applications: Prioritizing sources of uncertainty

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sin, Gürkan; Gernaey, Krist; Neumann, Marc B.

    2011-01-01

    This study demonstrates the usefulness of global sensitivity analysis in wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) design to prioritize sources of uncertainty and quantify their impact on performance criteria. The study, which is performed with the Benchmark Simulation Model no. 1 plant design, complements...... insight into devising useful ways for reducing uncertainties in the plant performance. This information can help engineers design robust WWTP plants....... a previous paper on input uncertainty characterisation and propagation (Sin et al., 2009). A sampling-based sensitivity analysis is conducted to compute standardized regression coefficients. It was found that this method is able to decompose satisfactorily the variance of plant performance criteria (with R2...

  16. Climate and soil attributes determine plant species turnover in global drylands.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ulrich, Werner; Soliveres, Santiago; Maestre, Fernando T; Gotelli, Nicholas J; Quero, José L; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bowker, Matthew A; Eldridge, David J; Ochoa, Victoria; Gozalo, Beatriz; Valencia, Enrique; Berdugo, Miguel; Escolar, Cristina; García-Gómez, Miguel; Escudero, Adrián; Prina, Aníbal; Alfonso, Graciela; Arredondo, Tulio; Bran, Donaldo; Cabrera, Omar; Cea, Alex; Chaieb, Mohamed; Contreras, Jorge; Derak, Mchich; Espinosa, Carlos I; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitán, Juan; Muro, Victoria García; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gómez-González, Susana; Gutiérrez, Julio R; Hernández, Rosa M; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Mau, Rebecca L; Hughes, Frederic Mendes; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Muchane, Muchai; Naseri, Kamal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramírez-Collantes, David A; Raveh, Eran; Romão, Roberto L; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, José Pablo; Wang, Deli; Yuan, Xia; Zaady, Eli

    2014-12-01

    Geographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition. 224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents. Beta diversity was quantified with four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site), Whittake's beta diversity (β(W)), a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites (β(R 2 )), and a multivariate abundance-based metric (β(MV)). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographic, climatic, and soil variables. Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity (percentage of singletons and β(W)) were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance ((β(R 2 )) and β(MV)) were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors, and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm). Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving ~ 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These findings may help to define appropriate

  17. Climate and soil attributes determine plant species turnover in global drylands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maestre, Fernando T.; Gotelli, Nicholas J.; Quero, José L.; Delgado-Baquerizo, Manuel; Bowker, Matthew A.; Eldridge, David J.; Ochoa, Victoria; Gozalo, Beatriz; Valencia, Enrique; Berdugo, Miguel; Escolar, Cristina; García-Gómez, Miguel; Escudero, Adrián; Prina, Aníbal; Alfonso, Graciela; Arredondo, Tulio; Bran, Donaldo; Cabrera, Omar; Cea, Alex; Chaieb, Mohamed; Contreras, Jorge; Derak, Mchich; Espinosa, Carlos I.; Florentino, Adriana; Gaitán, Juan; Muro, Victoria García; Ghiloufi, Wahida; Gómez-González, Susana; Gutiérrez, Julio R.; Hernández, Rosa M.; Huber-Sannwald, Elisabeth; Jankju, Mohammad; Mau, Rebecca L.; Hughes, Frederic Mendes; Miriti, Maria; Monerris, Jorge; Muchane, Muchai; Naseri, Kamal; Pucheta, Eduardo; Ramírez-Collantes, David A.; Raveh, Eran; Romão, Roberto L.; Torres-Díaz, Cristian; Val, James; Veiga, José Pablo; Wang, Deli; Yuan, Xia; Zaady, Eli

    2015-01-01

    Aim Geographic, climatic, and soil factors are major drivers of plant beta diversity, but their importance for dryland plant communities is poorly known. This study aims to: i) characterize patterns of beta diversity in global drylands, ii) detect common environmental drivers of beta diversity, and iii) test for thresholds in environmental conditions driving potential shifts in plant species composition. Location 224 sites in diverse dryland plant communities from 22 geographical regions in six continents. Methods Beta diversity was quantified with four complementary measures: the percentage of singletons (species occurring at only one site), Whittake’s beta diversity (β(W)), a directional beta diversity metric based on the correlation in species occurrences among spatially contiguous sites (β(R2)), and a multivariate abundance-based metric (β(MV)). We used linear modelling to quantify the relationships between these metrics of beta diversity and geographic, climatic, and soil variables. Results Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall, and to a lesser extent latitude, were the most important environmental predictors of beta diversity. Metrics related to species identity (percentage of singletons and β(W)) were most sensitive to soil fertility, whereas those metrics related to environmental gradients and abundance ((β(R2)) and β(MV)) were more associated with climate variability. Interactions among soil variables, climatic factors, and plant cover were not important determinants of beta diversity. Sites receiving less than 178 mm of annual rainfall differed sharply in species composition from more mesic sites (> 200 mm). Main conclusions Soil fertility and variability in temperature and rainfall are the most important environmental predictors of variation in plant beta diversity in global drylands. Our results suggest that those sites annually receiving ~ 178 mm of rainfall will be especially sensitive to future climate changes. These

  18. Weighted Composition Operators from Hardy Spaces into Logarithmic Bloch Spaces

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flavia Colonna

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available The logarithmic Bloch space Blog⁡ is the Banach space of analytic functions on the open unit disk 𝔻 whose elements f satisfy the condition ∥f∥=sup⁡z∈𝔻(1-|z|2log⁡  (2/(1-|z|2|f'(z|<∞. In this work we characterize the bounded and the compact weighted composition operators from the Hardy space Hp (with 1≤p≤∞ into the logarithmic Bloch space. We also provide boundedness and compactness criteria for the weighted composition operator mapping Hp into the little logarithmic Bloch space defined as the subspace of Blog⁡ consisting of the functions f such that lim⁡|z|→1(1-|z|2log⁡  (2/(1-|z|2|f'(z|=0.

  19. Nature and Culture in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elisabeth Rallo-Ditche

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available In the 19th century, Th.Hardy’s novels offer us a surprising and remarkable example of a reflection on the relationship between Nature and Culture : he undertakes to depict a rural society – in the process of disappearing – which experiences this relationship in a mode other than that of « Naturalism » (in the sense that Philippe Descola attributes to this word, to designate our western way of considering the world which was nascent in his time. Before the anthropology of today, Th. Hardy shows precisely a different way of apprehending the world among « hodges », in a region of England in the middle of the19th century. He reveals to the reader another way of considering the relationship whith non-human beings, which is just as worthy and interesting as that of the « naturalists » of his day. The individuals he describes are aware of an inner life and of the experience of their body situated in space but they also have the possibility of understanding the link they have with the non-human beings which surround them. Tess, the main character of the novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles, is one of these individuals, she lives in harmony with Nature and shows another kind of relationship with the plant and animal world. Her social exclusion will therefore be attributable not only to the ethics of society in her time, but also to a new conception of Nature : she cannot live in this world which is becoming one of triumphant Naturalism.

  20. Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treurnicht, Martina; Colville, Jonathan F; Joppa, Lucas N; Huyser, Onno; Manning, John

    2017-01-01

    The Cape Floristic Region-the world's smallest and third richest botanical hotspot-has benefited from sustained levels of taxonomic effort and exploration for almost three centuries, but how close is this to resulting in a near-complete plant species inventory? We analyse a core component of this flora over a 250-year period for trends in taxonomic effort and species discovery linked to ecological and conservation attributes. We show that >40% of the current total of species was described within the first 100 years of exploration, followed by a continued steady rate of description. We propose that analysis provides important real-world insights for other hotspots in the context of global strategic plans for biodiversity in informing considerations of the likely effort required in attaining set targets of comprehensive plant inventories. In a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, we argue for a focused research agenda across disciplines to increase the rate of species descriptions in global biodiversity hotspots.

  1. Biotic and abiotic variables influencing plant litter breakdown in streams: a global study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pearson, Richard G.; Hui, Cang; Gessner, Mark O.; Pérez, Javier; Alexandrou, Markos A.; Graça, Manuel A. S.; Cardinale, Bradley J.; Albariño, Ricardo J.; Arunachalam, Muthukumarasamy; Barmuta, Leon A.; Boulton, Andrew J.; Bruder, Andreas; Callisto, Marcos; Chauvet, Eric; Death, Russell G.; Dudgeon, David; Encalada, Andrea C.; Ferreira, Verónica; Figueroa, Ricardo; Flecker, Alexander S.; Gonçalves, José F.; Helson, Julie; Iwata, Tomoya; Jinggut, Tajang; Mathooko, Jude; Mathuriau, Catherine; M'Erimba, Charles; Moretti, Marcelo S.; Pringle, Catherine M.; Ramírez, Alonso; Ratnarajah, Lavenia; Rincon, José; Yule, Catherine M.

    2016-01-01

    Plant litter breakdown is a key ecological process in terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. Streams and rivers, in particular, contribute substantially to global carbon fluxes. However, there is little information available on the relative roles of different drivers of plant litter breakdown in fresh waters, particularly at large scales. We present a global-scale study of litter breakdown in streams to compare the roles of biotic, climatic and other environmental factors on breakdown rates. We conducted an experiment in 24 streams encompassing latitudes from 47.8° N to 42.8° S, using litter mixtures of local species differing in quality and phylogenetic diversity (PD), and alder (Alnus glutinosa) to control for variation in litter traits. Our models revealed that breakdown of alder was driven by climate, with some influence of pH, whereas variation in breakdown of litter mixtures was explained mainly by litter quality and PD. Effects of litter quality and PD and stream pH were more positive at higher temperatures, indicating that different mechanisms may operate at different latitudes. These results reflect global variability caused by multiple factors, but unexplained variance points to the need for expanded global-scale comparisons. PMID:27122551

  2. Global patterns of plant root colonization intensity by mycorrhizal fungi explained by climate and soil chemistry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Soudzilovskaia, N.A.; Douma, J.C.; Akhmetzhanova, A.A.; van Bodegom, P.M.; Cornwell, W.K.; Moens, E.J.; Treseder, K.K.; Tibbett, M.; Wang, Y.P.; Cornelissen, J.H.C.

    2015-01-01

    Aim Most vascular plants on Earth form mycorrhizae, a symbiotic relationship between plants and fungi. Despite the broad recognition of the importance of mycorrhizae for global carbon and nutrient cycling, we do not know how soil and climate variables relate to the intensity of colonization of plant

  3. A global-scale dispersion analysis of iodine-129 from nuclear fuel reprocessing plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishizawa, Masato; Suzuki, Takashi; Nagai, Haruyasu; Togawa, Orihiko

    2010-01-01

    A three-dimensional global chemical transport model, MOZART-2, is applied to investigate the global-sale dispersion of Iodine-129 from nuclear fuel reprocessing plants. The concentration and deposition of 129 I obtained by MOZART-2 are dispersed all over the Northern Hemisphere. The emission of 129 I to the atmosphere is thus important in considering the transport of 129 I to remote sites. (author)

  4. The Value of Native Plants and Local Production in an Era of Global Agriculture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shelef, Oren; Weisberg, Peter J; Provenza, Frederick D

    2017-01-01

    For addressing potential food shortages, a fundamental tradeoff exists between investing more resources to increasing productivity of existing crops, as opposed to increasing crop diversity by incorporating more species. We explore ways to use local plants as food resources and the potential to promote food diversity and agricultural resilience. We discuss how use of local plants and the practice of local agriculture can contribute to ongoing adaptability in times of global change. Most food crops are now produced, transported, and consumed long distances from their homelands of origin. At the same time, research and practices are directed primarily at improving the productivity of a small number of existing crops that form the cornerstone of a global food economy, rather than to increasing crop diversity. The result is a loss of agro-biodiversity, leading to a food industry that is more susceptible to abiotic and biotic stressors, and more at risk of catastrophic losses. Humans cultivate only about 150 of an estimated 30,000 edible plant species worldwide, with only 30 plant species comprising the vast majority of our diets. To some extent, these practices explain the food disparity among human populations, where nearly 1 billion people suffer insufficient nutrition and 2 billion people are obese or overweight. Commercial uses of new crops and wild plants of local origin have the potential to diversify global food production and better enable local adaptation to the diverse environments humans inhabit. We discuss the advantages, obstacles, and risks of using local plants. We also describe a case study-the missed opportunity to produce pine nuts commercially in the Western United States. We discuss the potential consequences of using local pine nuts rather than importing them overseas. Finally, we provide a list of edible native plants, and synthesize the state of research concerning the potential and challenges in using them for food production. The goal of our

  5. Governing Nanotechnology in a Globalized World: Cross-National Dimensions and Strategic Assessments of a Disruptive Technology

    OpenAIRE

    Center on Contemporary Conflict

    2013-01-01

    FY 2013-2014. Project Lead: Anne Clunan & Kirsten Rodine Hardy While those in the nanotechnology field emphasize the benefits for medicine, travel, and manufacturing, it is a dual-use technology that could lead to a disruptive and expensive arms race for technology dominance. Nanotechnology has significant implications for globalization, technological governance, and national sovereignty. Through a cross-national and strategic lens, the project will analyze the potential threats to nati...

  6. Bert Hardy's Chinatown:
    May 1942 : Illustrated Lecture - a Cultures in Transit Conference event

    OpenAIRE

    Lee, Gregory

    2008-01-01

    A collaborative event organized bby the Open Eye Galler, Liverpool as part of thea academic conference Cultures In Transit organised by Liverpool Hope and Université de Lyon (Jean Moulin) 18-21 July 2008.; International audience; This lecture puts in historical context a group of rare photographs by Bert Hardy taken in May 1942 during the Second World War. The men depicted are just a few of the 10,000 Chinese seamen who manned the Merchant Navy ships, for Britain during the war, mainly Blue F...

  7. Global energy balance 2009 - USIMINAS - Jose Bonifacio de Andrade e Silva plant - Cubatao, SP, Brazil; Balanco energetico global 2009 - USIMINAS - Usina Jose Bonifacio de Andrade e Silva - Cubatao, SP

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frias, Andre Luiz Pereira; Silva, Uilian Rodrigues da [Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais S/A (USIMINAS), Ipatinga, MG (Brazil)

    2010-07-01

    The global energetic balance of the USIMINAS - Cubatao Plant - in the year 2009 is presented containing the main indicators of energy consumption of the production areas. Besides the global energetic indicators, the balance presents the specific physical consumption at the different areas, allowing the analysis of each sector of the plant.

  8. Convergence and summability of Fourier transforms and Hardy spaces

    CERN Document Server

    Weisz, Ferenc

    2017-01-01

    This book investigates the convergence and summability of both one-dimensional and multi-dimensional Fourier transforms, as well as the theory of Hardy spaces. To do so, it studies a general summability method known as theta-summation, which encompasses all the well-known summability methods, such as the Fejér, Riesz, Weierstrass, Abel, Picard, Bessel and Rogosinski summations.  Following on the classic books by Bary (1964) and Zygmund (1968), this is the first book that considers strong summability introduced by current methodology. A further unique aspect is that the Lebesgue points are also studied in the theory of multi-dimensional summability. In addition to classical results, results from the past 20-30 years – normally only found in scattered research papers – are also gathered and discussed, offering readers a convenient “one-stop” source to support their work. As such, the book will be useful for researchers, graduate and postgraduate students alike.

  9. OS CONTOS DE THOMAS HARDY EM TRADUÇÃO NO BRASIL

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carolina Paganine

    2012-04-01

    antologias temáticas e em diferentes décadas – anos 1940, 1980 e 2000, respectivamente –, essas traduções são abordadas à luz do pressuposto de André Lefevere (2007, de que as estratégias de tradução são moldadas, principalmente, pela ideologia do tradutor e pela poética de tradução da época em que foram feitas. Com isso, procura-se desdobrar a reflexão em dois caminhos inter-relacionados: o primeiro, a respeito da imagem que se tem da obra de Thomas Hardy a partir dessas traduções brasileiras; o segundo, sobre as poéticas de tradução que sustentam essa imagem.

  10. A Hybrid Multidimensional Approach to Select a Country for Global Cement Plant Location

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Khurram Ali

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The globalization and saturated domestic markets force international firms to gradually expand their businesses across the borders to capture potential emerging markets. The decision to select a country for a new cement plant location demands analysis of a large number of factors. It is a multifaceted problem which requires investigation and prioritization of factors in a hierarchical way.This paper uses an FAHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process based procedure proposing a practical framework for solution of the GCPLP (Global Cement Plant Location Problem. It deals with real world ambiguities and handles a broader spectrum of influencing factors. The criteria for selection of a country for a new cement plant installation are prioritized from the FAHP based evaluation made by experts. Different global databases including the World Bank are used for the fuzzy ratings of the alternatives. It has been learnt in this particular problem that cement specific and cost related factors are the most sensitive while legal regulations and economic conditions are relatively less sensitive for the decision makers. Therefore, the countries having strong lime stone reserves, cheaper fuel costs and good internal marketing positions are higher in ranking. The paper concludes with different rankings of the four countries analyzed which assist the strategic managers in making decisions on the basis of mathematically computed results.

  11. A hybrid multidimensional approach to select a country for global cement plant location

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ali, M.K.

    2015-01-01

    The globalization and saturated domestic markets force international firms to gradually expand their businesses across the borders to capture potential emerging markets. The decision to select a country for a new cement plant location demands analysis of a large number of factors. It is a multifaceted problem which requires investigation and prioritization of factors in a hierarchical way. This paper uses an FAHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process) based procedure proposing a practical framework for solution of the GCPLP (Global Cement Plant Location Problem). It deals with real world ambiguities and handles a broader spectrum of influencing factors. The criteria for selection of a country for a new cement plant installation are prioritized from the FAHP based evaluation made by experts. Different global databases including the World Bank are used for the fuzzy ratings of the alternatives. It has been learnt in this particular problem that cement specific and cost related factors are the most sensitive while legal regulations and economic conditions are relatively less sensitive for the decision makers. Therefore, the countries having strong lime stone reserves, cheaper fuel costs and good internal marketing positions are higher in ranking. The paper concludes with different rankings of the four countries analyzed which assist the strategic managers in making decisions on the basis of mathematically computed results. (author)

  12. The relationship between socio-demographic variables, job stressors, burnout, and hardy personality in nurses: an exploratory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garrosa, Eva; Moreno-Jiménez, Bernardo; Liang, Youxin; González, José Luis

    2008-03-01

    Nursing is considered as a risk profession with high levels of stress and burnout, and these levels are probably increasing. A model of prediction of burnout in nursing that includes socio-demographic variables, job stressors, and personal vulnerability, or resistance, is proposed. A cross-sectional correlational design was used. A sample of 473 nurses and student nurses in practice from three General Hospitals in Madrid (Spain) completed the "Nursing Burnout Scale". The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations, and hierarchical multiple regression. The proposed model is a good predictor of the diverse burnout sub-dimensions: emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and lack of personal accomplishment. Significant predictors of burnout included age, job status, job stressors (workload, experience with pain and death, conflictive interaction, and role ambiguity), and hardy personality (commitment, control, and challenge). Identifying an integrative process of burnout among nurses is an essential step to develop effective managerial strategies so as to reduce the burnout problem. Specifically, the present study suggests that intervention aimed at reducing the risk for burnout may achieve better results if it includes enhancement of workers' hardy personality rather than just decreasing environmental stressors.

  13. Sapfluxnet: a global database of sap flow measurements to unravel the ecological factors of transpiration regulation in woody plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poyatos, Rafael; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi; Molowny-Horas, Roberto; Steppe, Kathy; Oren, Ram; Katul, Gabriel; Mahecha, Miguel

    2016-04-01

    Plant transpiration is one of the main components of the global water cycle, it controls land energy balance, determines catchment hydrological responses and exerts strong feedbacks on regional and global climate. At the same time, plant productivity, growth and survival are severely constrained by water availability, which is expected to decline in many areas of the world because of global-change driven increases in drought conditions. While global surveys of drought tolerance traits at the organ level are rapidly increasing our knowledge of the diversity in plant functional strategies to cope with drought stress, a whole-plant perspective of drought vulnerability is still lacking. Sap flow measurements using thermal methods have now been applied to measure seasonal patterns in water use and the response of transpiration to environmental drivers across hundreds of species of woody plants worldwide, covering a wide range of climates, soils and stand structural characteristics. Here, we present the first effort to build a global database of sub-daily, tree-level sap flow (SAPFLUXNET) that will be used to improve our understanding of physiological and structural determinants of plant transpiration and to further investigate the role of vegetation in controlling global water balance. We already have the expression of interest of data contributors representing >115 globally distributed sites, > 185 species and > 700 trees, measured over at least one growing season. However, the potential number of available sites and species is probably much higher given that > 2500 sap flow-related papers have been identified in a Scopus literature search conducted in November 2015. We will give an overview of how data collection, harmonisation and quality control procedures are implemented within the project. We will also discuss potential analytical strategies to synthesize hydroclimatic controls on sap flow into biologically meaningful traits related to whole-plant transpiration

  14. Leveraging EAP-Sparsity for Compressed Sensing of MS-HARDI in (k, q)-Space.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Jiaqi; Sakhaee, Elham; Entezari, Alireza; Vemuri, Baba C

    2015-01-01

    Compressed Sensing (CS) for the acceleration of MR scans has been widely investigated in the past decade. Lately, considerable progress has been made in achieving similar speed ups in acquiring multi-shell high angular resolution diffusion imaging (MS-HARDI) scans. Existing approaches in this context were primarily concerned with sparse reconstruction of the diffusion MR signal S(q) in the q-space. More recently, methods have been developed to apply the compressed sensing framework to the 6-dimensional joint (k, q)-space, thereby exploiting the redundancy in this 6D space. To guarantee accurate reconstruction from partial MS-HARDI data, the key ingredients of compressed sensing that need to be brought together are: (1) the function to be reconstructed needs to have a sparse representation, and (2) the data for reconstruction ought to be acquired in the dual domain (i.e., incoherent sensing) and (3) the reconstruction process involves a (convex) optimization. In this paper, we present a novel approach that uses partial Fourier sensing in the 6D space of (k, q) for the reconstruction of P(x, r). The distinct feature of our approach is a sparsity model that leverages surfacelets in conjunction with total variation for the joint sparse representation of P(x, r). Thus, our method stands to benefit from the practical guarantees for accurate reconstruction from partial (k, q)-space data. Further, we demonstrate significant savings in acquisition time over diffusion spectral imaging (DSI) which is commonly used as the benchmark for comparisons in reported literature. To demonstrate the benefits of this approach,.we present several synthetic and real data examples.

  15. A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aronson, Myla F. J.; La Sorte, Frank A.; Nilon, Charles H.; Katti, Madhusudan; Goddard, Mark A.; Lepczyk, Christopher A.; Warren, Paige S.; Williams, Nicholas S. G.; Cilliers, Sarel; Clarkson, Bruce; Dobbs, Cynnamon; Dolan, Rebecca; Hedblom, Marcus; Klotz, Stefan; Kooijmans, Jip Louwe; Kühn, Ingolf; MacGregor-Fors, Ian; McDonnell, Mark; Mörtberg, Ulla; Pyšek, Petr; Siebert, Stefan; Sushinsky, Jessica; Werner, Peter; Winter, Marten

    2014-01-01

    Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common being Columba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species (the number of species per km2) has declined substantially: only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species are currently present compared with estimates of non-urban density of species. The current density of species in cities and the loss in density of species was best explained by anthropogenic features (landcover, city age) rather than by non-anthropogenic factors (geography, climate, topography). As urbanization continues to expand, efforts directed towards the conservation of intact vegetation within urban landscapes could support higher concentrations of both bird and plant species. Despite declines in the density of species, cities still retain endemic native species, thus providing opportunities for regional and global biodiversity conservation, restoration and education. PMID:24523278

  16. A global analysis of the impacts of urbanization on bird and plant diversity reveals key anthropogenic drivers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aronson, Myla F J; La Sorte, Frank A; Nilon, Charles H; Katti, Madhusudan; Goddard, Mark A; Lepczyk, Christopher A; Warren, Paige S; Williams, Nicholas S G; Cilliers, Sarel; Clarkson, Bruce; Dobbs, Cynnamon; Dolan, Rebecca; Hedblom, Marcus; Klotz, Stefan; Kooijmans, Jip Louwe; Kühn, Ingolf; Macgregor-Fors, Ian; McDonnell, Mark; Mörtberg, Ulla; Pysek, Petr; Siebert, Stefan; Sushinsky, Jessica; Werner, Peter; Winter, Marten

    2014-04-07

    Urbanization contributes to the loss of the world's biodiversity and the homogenization of its biota. However, comparative studies of urban biodiversity leading to robust generalities of the status and drivers of biodiversity in cities at the global scale are lacking. Here, we compiled the largest global dataset to date of two diverse taxa in cities: birds (54 cities) and plants (110 cities). We found that the majority of urban bird and plant species are native in the world's cities. Few plants and birds are cosmopolitan, the most common being Columba livia and Poa annua. The density of bird and plant species (the number of species per km(2)) has declined substantially: only 8% of native bird and 25% of native plant species are currently present compared with estimates of non-urban density of species. The current density of species in cities and the loss in density of species was best explained by anthropogenic features (landcover, city age) rather than by non-anthropogenic factors (geography, climate, topography). As urbanization continues to expand, efforts directed towards the conservation of intact vegetation within urban landscapes could support higher concentrations of both bird and plant species. Despite declines in the density of species, cities still retain endemic native species, thus providing opportunities for regional and global biodiversity conservation, restoration and education.

  17. Commercial Plant Production and Consumption Still Follow the Latitudinal Gradient in Species Diversity despite Economic Globalization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Erik J.; Helmus, Matthew R.; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Polasky, Stephen; Lasky, Jesse R.; Zanne, Amy E.; Pearse, William D.; Kraft, Nathan J. B.; Miteva, Daniela A.; Fagan, William F.

    2016-01-01

    Increasing trade between countries and gains in income have given consumers around the world access to a richer and more diverse set of commercial plant products (i.e., foods and fibers produced by farmers). According to the economic theory of comparative advantage, countries open to trade will be able to consume more–in terms of volume and diversity–if they concentrate production on commodities that they can most cost-effectively produce, while importing goods that are expensive to produce, relative to other countries. Here, we perform a global analysis of traded commercial plant products and find little evidence that increasing globalization has incentivized agricultural specialization. Instead, a country’s plant production and consumption patterns are still largely determined by local evolutionary legacies of plant diversification. Because tropical countries harbor a greater diversity of lineages across the tree of life than temperate countries, tropical countries produce and consume a greater diversity of plant products than do temperate countries. In contrast, the richer and more economically advanced temperate countries have the capacity to produce and consume more plant species than the generally poorer tropical countries, yet this collection of plant species is drawn from fewer branches on the tree of life. Why have countries not increasingly specialized in plant production despite the theoretical financial incentive to do so? Potential explanations include the persistence of domestic agricultural subsidies that distort production decisions, cultural preferences for diverse local food production, and that diverse food production protects rural households in developing countries from food price shocks. Less specialized production patterns will make crop systems more resilient to zonal climatic and social perturbations, but this may come at the expense of global crop production efficiency, an important step in making the transition to a hotter and more

  18. Commercial Plant Production and Consumption Still Follow the Latitudinal Gradient in Species Diversity despite Economic Globalization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelson, Erik J; Helmus, Matthew R; Cavender-Bares, Jeannine; Polasky, Stephen; Lasky, Jesse R; Zanne, Amy E; Pearse, William D; Kraft, Nathan J B; Miteva, Daniela A; Fagan, William F

    2016-01-01

    Increasing trade between countries and gains in income have given consumers around the world access to a richer and more diverse set of commercial plant products (i.e., foods and fibers produced by farmers). According to the economic theory of comparative advantage, countries open to trade will be able to consume more-in terms of volume and diversity-if they concentrate production on commodities that they can most cost-effectively produce, while importing goods that are expensive to produce, relative to other countries. Here, we perform a global analysis of traded commercial plant products and find little evidence that increasing globalization has incentivized agricultural specialization. Instead, a country's plant production and consumption patterns are still largely determined by local evolutionary legacies of plant diversification. Because tropical countries harbor a greater diversity of lineages across the tree of life than temperate countries, tropical countries produce and consume a greater diversity of plant products than do temperate countries. In contrast, the richer and more economically advanced temperate countries have the capacity to produce and consume more plant species than the generally poorer tropical countries, yet this collection of plant species is drawn from fewer branches on the tree of life. Why have countries not increasingly specialized in plant production despite the theoretical financial incentive to do so? Potential explanations include the persistence of domestic agricultural subsidies that distort production decisions, cultural preferences for diverse local food production, and that diverse food production protects rural households in developing countries from food price shocks. Less specialized production patterns will make crop systems more resilient to zonal climatic and social perturbations, but this may come at the expense of global crop production efficiency, an important step in making the transition to a hotter and more

  19. Commercial Plant Production and Consumption Still Follow the Latitudinal Gradient in Species Diversity despite Economic Globalization.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erik J Nelson

    Full Text Available Increasing trade between countries and gains in income have given consumers around the world access to a richer and more diverse set of commercial plant products (i.e., foods and fibers produced by farmers. According to the economic theory of comparative advantage, countries open to trade will be able to consume more-in terms of volume and diversity-if they concentrate production on commodities that they can most cost-effectively produce, while importing goods that are expensive to produce, relative to other countries. Here, we perform a global analysis of traded commercial plant products and find little evidence that increasing globalization has incentivized agricultural specialization. Instead, a country's plant production and consumption patterns are still largely determined by local evolutionary legacies of plant diversification. Because tropical countries harbor a greater diversity of lineages across the tree of life than temperate countries, tropical countries produce and consume a greater diversity of plant products than do temperate countries. In contrast, the richer and more economically advanced temperate countries have the capacity to produce and consume more plant species than the generally poorer tropical countries, yet this collection of plant species is drawn from fewer branches on the tree of life. Why have countries not increasingly specialized in plant production despite the theoretical financial incentive to do so? Potential explanations include the persistence of domestic agricultural subsidies that distort production decisions, cultural preferences for diverse local food production, and that diverse food production protects rural households in developing countries from food price shocks. Less specialized production patterns will make crop systems more resilient to zonal climatic and social perturbations, but this may come at the expense of global crop production efficiency, an important step in making the transition to a

  20. Counting complete? Finalising the plant inventory of a global biodiversity hotspot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martina Treurnicht

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The Cape Floristic Region—the world’s smallest and third richest botanical hotspot—has benefited from sustained levels of taxonomic effort and exploration for almost three centuries, but how close is this to resulting in a near-complete plant species inventory? We analyse a core component of this flora over a 250-year period for trends in taxonomic effort and species discovery linked to ecological and conservation attributes. We show that >40% of the current total of species was described within the first 100 years of exploration, followed by a continued steady rate of description. We propose that <1% of the flora is still to be described. We document a relatively constant cohort of taxonomists, working over 250 years at what we interpret to be their ‘taxonomic maximum.’ Rates of description of new species were independent of plant growth-form but narrow-range taxa have constituted a significantly greater proportion of species discoveries since 1950. This suggests that the fraction of undiscovered species predominantly comprises localised endemics that are thus of high conservation concern. Our analysis provides important real-world insights for other hotspots in the context of global strategic plans for biodiversity in informing considerations of the likely effort required in attaining set targets of comprehensive plant inventories. In a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, we argue for a focused research agenda across disciplines to increase the rate of species descriptions in global biodiversity hotspots.

  1. Global environmental change effects on plant community composition trajectories depend upon management legacies

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Perring, Michael P.; Bernhardt-Römermann, Markus; Baeten, Lander; Midolo, Gabriele; Blondeel, Haben; Depauw, Leen; Landuyt, Dries; Maes, Sybryn L.; Lombaerde, De Emiel; Carón, Maria Mercedes; Vellend, Mark; Brunet, Jörg; Chudomelová, Markéta; Decocq, Guillaume; Diekmann, Martin; Dirnböck, Thomas; Dörfler, Inken; Durak, Tomasz; Frenne, De Pieter; Gilliam, Frank S.; Hédl, Radim; Heinken, Thilo; Hommel, Patrick; Jaroszewicz, Bogdan; Kirby, Keith J.; Kopecký, Martin; Lenoir, Jonathan; Li, Daijiang; Máliš, František; Mitchell, Fraser J.G.; Naaf, Tobias; Newman, Miles; Petřík, Petr; Reczyńska, Kamila; Schmidt, Wolfgang; Standovár, Tibor; Świerkosz, Krzysztof; Calster, Van Hans; Vild, Ondřej; Wagner, Eva Rosa; Wulf, Monika; Verheyen, Kris

    2018-01-01

    The contemporary state of functional traits and species richness in plant communities depends on legacy effects of past disturbances. Whether temporal responses of community properties to current environmental changes are altered by such legacies is, however, unknown. We expect global environmental

  2. Embeddings of model subspaces of the Hardy space: compactness and Schatten-von Neumann ideals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baranov, Anton D

    2009-01-01

    We study properties of the embedding operators of model subspaces K p Θ (defined by inner functions) in the Hardy space H p (coinvariant subspaces of the shift operator). We find a criterion for the embedding of K p Θ in L p (μ) to be compact similar to the Volberg-Treil theorem on bounded embeddings, and give a positive answer to a question of Cima and Matheson. The proof is based on Bernstein-type inequalities for functions in K p Θ . We investigate measures μ such that the embedding operator belongs to some Schatten-von Neumann ideal.

  3. An atypical R2R3 MYB transcription factor increases cold hardiness by CBF-dependent and CBF-independent pathways in apple

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, Yinpeng; Chen, Pengxiang; Yan, Yan; Bao, Chana; Li, Xuewei; Wang, Liping; Shen, Xiaoxia; Li, Haiyan; Liu, Xiaofang; Niu, Chundong; Zhu, Chen; Fang, Nan; Shao, Yun; Zhao, Tao; Yu, Jiantao; Zhu, Jianhua; Xu, Lingfei; Nocker, van Steven; Ma, Fengwang; Guan, Qingmei

    2018-01-01

    Apple (Malus × domestica) trees are vulnerable to freezing temperatures. However, there has been only limited success in developing cold-hardy cultivars. This lack of progress is due at least partly to lack of understanding of the molecular mechanisms of freezing tolerance in apple. In this study,

  4. Long-range global warming impact of gaseous diffusion plant operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Trowbridge, L.D.

    1992-09-01

    The DOE gaseous diffusion plant complex makes extensive use of CFC-114 as a primary coolant. As this material is on the Montreal Protocol list of materials scheduled for production curtailment, a substitute must be found. In addition to physical cooling properties, the gaseous diffusion application imposes the unique requirement of chemical inertness to fluorinating agents. This has narrowed the selection of a near-term substitute to two fully fluorinated material, FC-318 and FC-3110, which are likely to be strong, long-lived greenhouse gases. In this document, calculations are presented showing, for a number of plausible scenarios of diffusion plant operation and coolant replacement strategy, the future course of coolant use, greenhouse gas emissions (including coolant and power-related indirect CO 2 emissions), and the consequent global temperature impacts of these scenarios

  5. L’escalfament global i l’extinció de les plantes: un exemple tropical

    OpenAIRE

    Safont, Elisabet; Rull, Valentí; Vegas-Vilarrúbia, Teresa; Nogué, Sandra

    2011-01-01

    [EN]Global warminG and plant extinction: a tropical example. – Pantepui is a phytogeographical province made up of a group of approximately 50 tabular mountain summits or tepuis in southeast Venezuela. This region lies between 1500 and 3014 m a.s.l and covers an approximate area of 6000 km2. Its pristine state of conservation is remarkable. The summits of the tepuis contain an excep- tional level of vascular plant diversity, including 2446 known species, of which 771 are endemic t...

  6. Facing Spousal Cancer During Child-Rearing Years: Do Social Support and Hardiness Moderate the Impact of Psychological Distress on Quality of Life?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Senneseth, Mette; Hauken, May A; Matthiesen, Stig B; Gjestad, Rolf; Laberg, Jon C

    Partners of cancer patients report psychological distress and reduced quality of life. However, partners' mental health status and quality of life during child-rearing years and the influence of social support and hardiness on their well-being have not yet been studied. The aim of this study was to describe psychological distress, quality of life, social support, and hardiness of the partners facing spousal cancer during child-rearing years and investigate whether social support or hardiness moderated the relationship between psychological distress and quality of life. Cross-sectional data were collected in Norway from December 2013 to July 2015 as part of the Cancer-PEPSONE study. Five questionnaires were administered to 14 females and 21 males (n = 35). Participants reported more psychological distress and lower quality-of-life scores than other healthy Norwegian populations. Psychological distress seemed to be associated with their not being in control of their futures. Received social support moderated the effect of psychological distress on quality of life. Facing spousal cancer during child-rearing years seemed to have a substantial impact on partners' mental health and an adverse impact on their quality of life. Accordingly, these partners' self-care abilities may be reduced. Received social support may reduce the multiple burdens and consequently allow for enhancement of self-care. Interventions should aim to improve the social support provided to child-rearing partners, which may improve their quality of life. Providing adequate information about their partner's cancer illness and treatment may enhance their feelings of control, which may be beneficial for their mental health status.

  7. Diazotroph-Bacterial Community Structure of Root Nodules Account for Two-Fold Differences in Plant Growth: Consequences for Global Biogeochemical Cycles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, M. A.

    2016-12-01

    The bacterial communities that inhabit and function as mutualists in the nodules of soybean, a major worldwide crop, are a fundamental determinant of plant growth and global nitrogen and carbon cycles. Unfertilized soybean can derive up to 90% of its nitrogen through bacterial-driven diazotrophy. It was the goal of the research in this study to assess whether different bacterial taxa (e.g. Bradyrhizobia spp.) differ in their soybean growth supportive role, which could then feedback to alter global biogeochemical cycling. Using 16S rRNA and NifH genes, nodule bacterial communities were shown to vary across 9 different cultivars of soybean, and that the variation between cultivars were highly correlated to plant yield (97 to 188 bu/Ha) and nitrogen. The relative abundances of gene sequences associated with the closest taxonomic match (NCBI), indicated that several taxa were (r= 0.76) negatively (e.g. Bradyrhizobium sp Ec3.3) or (r= 0.84) positively (e.g. Bradyrhizobium elkanii WSM 2783) correlated with plant yield. Other non-Rhizobiaceae taxa, such as Rhodopseudomonas spp. were also prevalent and correlated with plant yield. Soybeans and other leguminous crops will become increasingly important part of world food production, soil fertility and global biogeochemical cycles with rising population and food demand. The study demonstrates the importance of plant-microbial feedbacks driving plant growth but also ramifications for global cycling of nitrogen and carbon.

  8. Herbivory and eutrophication mediate grassland plant nutrient responses across a global climatic gradient

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, T. Michael; Griffith, Daniel M.; Grace, James B.; Lind, Eric M.; Adler, Peter B.; Biederman, Lori A.; Blumenthal, Dana M.; Daleo, Pedro; Firn, Jennifer; Hagenah, Nicole; Harpole, W. Stanley; MacDougall, Andrew S.; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Risch, Anita C.; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schütz, Martin; Seabloom, Eric W.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren; Wragg, Peter; Borer, Elizabeth T.

    2018-01-01

    Plant stoichiometry, the relative concentration of elements, is a key regulator of ecosystem functioning and is also being altered by human activities. In this paper we sought to understand the global drivers of plant stoichiometry and compare the relative contribution of climatic vs. anthropogenic effects. We addressed this goal by measuring plant elemental (C, N, P and K) responses to eutrophication and vertebrate herbivore exclusion at eighteen sites on six continents. Across sites, climate and atmospheric N deposition emerged as strong predictors of plot‐level tissue nutrients, mediated by biomass and plant chemistry. Within sites, fertilization increased total plant nutrient pools, but results were contingent on soil fertility and the proportion of grass biomass relative to other functional types. Total plant nutrient pools diverged strongly in response to herbivore exclusion when fertilized; responses were largest in ungrazed plots at low rainfall, whereas herbivore grazing dampened the plant community nutrient responses to fertilization. Our study highlights (1) the importance of climate in determining plant nutrient concentrations mediated through effects on plant biomass, (2) that eutrophication affects grassland nutrient pools via both soil and atmospheric pathways and (3) that interactions among soils, herbivores and eutrophication drive plant nutrient responses at small scales, especially at water‐limited sites.

  9. Supercooling capacity and cold hardiness of band-winged grasshopper eggs (Orthoptera: Acrididae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Bao-Ping; Li, Na; Zhou, Xiao-Rong

    2014-01-01

    The band-winged grasshopper, Oedaleus asiaticus Bei-Bienko, is one of the most dominant and economically important grasshopper species in the steppe grasslands and farming-pastoral ecotone in northern China. It is a univoltine species and overwinters as eggs in soil. The cold hardiness of its eggs was examined in the laboratory. Water content in soil significantly affected the supercooling points (SCPs), water content and fat content of prediapause eggs. With the increase of water content in soil, the SCP, and water content of prediapause eggs rose whereas the fat content declined. There was a significant relationship between the SCP and water content or fat content of prediapause eggs. The SCPs of prediapause and diapause eggs varied from -7.6 to -28.4°C and the SCPs of eggs 30 d after oviposition could be divided into two groups. The means of high SCP group (-11.0 to -11.9°C) were much higher than those of low SCP group (-21.8 to -21.9°C), and the majority belonged to the latter (90.48-93.33%). The SCPs of prediapause eggs and early-diapause eggs 30 d after oviposition were significantly higher than those of deep-diapause eggs 60 d after oviposition. The survival rates of diapause eggs were significantly different among different temperature treatments. The survival rate was higher than 88% at greater than -20°C and declined significantly to 57% at -25°C, and suddenly dropped to zero at -30°C. The lower lethal temperature (Ltemp50) for 12 h exposure was -25.3°C and the lower lethal time (Ltime50) at -20°C was 32.8 d. As the mean SCPs of diapause eggs were similar to their Ltemp50, the SCP of eggs can be considered as a good indicator of cold hardiness for O. asiaticus and that this grasshopper is a freeze-intolerant insect. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Entomological Society of America.

  10. Biology and biotechnological advances in Jatropha curcas - A biodiesel plant

    KAUST Repository

    Reddy, Muppala P.

    2009-10-31

    Increasing global demand for energy, the impending depletion of fossil fuels, and concern over global climate change have lead to a resurgence in the development of alternative energy sources. Bio-fuels and bio-energy encompass a wide range of alternative sources of energy of biological origin, and offer excellent, environmentally friendly opportunities to address these issues. The recognition that Jatropha oil can yield high quality biodiesel has led to a surge of interest in Jatropha across the globe, more so in view of the potential for avoiding the dilemma of food vs fuel. Hardiness, rapid growth, easy propagation, short gestation period, wide adaptation, and optimum plant size combine to make this species suitable for sustainable cultivation on wastelands. Besides biodiesel from the seed, the plant produces several useful products that also have commercial value. Large scale cultivation remains the single most important factor that will ultimately determine the success of Jatropha as a source of bio-fuel. The limited knowledge of the genetics of this species, low and inconsistent yields, the narrow genetic variability, and vulnerability to insects and diseases are major constraints in successful cultivation of Jatropha as a bio-fuel crop. Despite the optimal protein content and composition of the pressed cake, the presence of phorbol esters makes it unsuitable for consumption by livestock. A non-toxic variety with low or no phorbol ester content has been identified from Mexico, and the utility of pressed cake from this variety as livestock feed has been demonstrated successfully. In the absence of any morphological differences, identification of linked markers for toxic/non-toxic varieties will add value to the crop and facilitate further improvement. This chapter discusses current efforts towards assessing the diversity and phylogeny of Jatropha, identification of specific markers for toxic and non-toxic varieties, and aspects of micropropagation and genetic

  11. Cost analysis of small hydroelectric power plants components and preliminary estimation of global cost

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Basta, C.; Olive, W.J.; Antunes, J.S.

    1990-01-01

    An analysis of cost for each components of Small Hydroelectric Power Plant, taking into account the real costs of these projects is shown. It also presents a global equation which allows a preliminary estimation of cost for each construction. (author)

  12. Simulations research of the global predictive control with self-adaptive in the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Su Jie; Xia Guoqing; Zhang Wei

    2007-01-01

    For further improving the dynamic control capabilities of the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant, this paper puts forward to apply the algorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive in the rotate speed control of the gas turbine, including control structure and the design of controller in the base of expounding the math model of the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant. the simulation results show that the respond of the change of the gas turbine speed under the control algorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive is ten second faster than that under the PID control algorithm, and the output value of the gas turbine speed under the PID control algorithm is 1%-2% higher than that under the control slgorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive. It shows that the algorithm of global predictive control with self-adaptive can better control the output of the speed of the gas turbine of the nuclear power plant and get the better control effect. (authors)

  13. A first look at the SAPFLUXNET database: global patterns in whole-plant transpiration and implications for ecohydrological research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poyatos, R.; Granda, V.; Mencuccini, M.; Flo, V.; Oren, R.; Molowny-Horas, R.; Katul, G. G.; Mahecha, M. D.; Steppe, K.; Cabon, A.; De Cáceres, M.; Martínez-Vilalta, J.

    2017-12-01

    Plant transpiration is the fundamental process linking water and vegetation and it is therefore a central topic in ecohydrological research. Globally, plants display a huge variety of coordinated adjustments in their physiology and structure to regulate transpiration in response to fluctuations of water demand and supply at multiple temporal scales. Sap flow measured in plant stems reveals the temporal patterns of these responses but sap flow data have remained fragmentary and generally unavailable for syntheses of regional to global scope. Here we present the first global database of sap flow measurements from individual plants (SAPFLUXNET, http://sapfluxnet.creaf.cat/), which has been compiled from > 150 datasets contributed by researchers worldwide. Received datasets were harmonised and conveniently stored in custom-designed R objects holding sap flow and environmental data time series, together with several ancillary metadata, enabling data access for synthesis activities. SAPFLUXNET covers most vegetated biomes and holds data for > 1500 individual plants, mostly trees, belonging to >100 species and > 50 genera. We retrieved water use traits indicative of maximum transpiration rates and of transpiration sensitivity to vapour pressure deficit using quantile regression approaches and moving window analyses. Global patterns of these water use traits were then analysed as a function of climate, plant functional type and stand characteristics. For example, maximum transpiration rates at a given plant diameter or sapwood area tended to be higher for Angiosperms compared to Gymnosperms, but this relationships converged to a more similar scaling between transpiration and leaf area across these groups. SAPFLUXNET is also a valuable tool to evaluate water balance components in ecosystem models. We combined SAPFLUXNET data with the MEDFATE model (https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/medfate/index.html) to validate an ecohydrological optimisation approach to retrieve

  14. Ants sow the seeds of global diversification in flowering plants.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Szabolcs Lengyel

    Full Text Available The extraordinary diversification of angiosperm plants in the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods has produced an estimated 250,000-300,000 living angiosperm species and has fundamentally altered terrestrial ecosystems. Interactions with animals as pollinators or seed dispersers have long been suspected as drivers of angiosperm diversification, yet empirical examples remain sparse or inconclusive. Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory may drive diversification as it can reduce extinction by providing selective advantages to plants and can increase speciation by enhancing geographical isolation by extremely limited dispersal distances.Using the most comprehensive sister-group comparison to date, we tested the hypothesis that myrmecochory leads to higher diversification rates in angiosperm plants. As predicted, diversification rates were substantially higher in ant-dispersed plants than in their non-myrmecochorous relatives. Data from 101 angiosperm lineages in 241 genera from all continents except Antarctica revealed that ant-dispersed lineages contained on average more than twice as many species as did their non-myrmecochorous sister groups. Contrasts in species diversity between sister groups demonstrated that diversification rates did not depend on seed dispersal mode in the sister group and were higher in myrmecochorous lineages in most biogeographic regions.Myrmecochory, which has evolved independently at least 100 times in angiosperms and is estimated to be present in at least 77 families and 11 000 species, is a key evolutionary innovation and a globally important driver of plant diversity. Myrmecochory provides the best example to date for a consistent effect of any mutualism on large-scale diversification.

  15. Ants sow the seeds of global diversification in flowering plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lengyel, Szabolcs; Gove, Aaron D; Latimer, Andrew M; Majer, Jonathan D; Dunn, Robert R

    2009-01-01

    The extraordinary diversification of angiosperm plants in the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods has produced an estimated 250,000-300,000 living angiosperm species and has fundamentally altered terrestrial ecosystems. Interactions with animals as pollinators or seed dispersers have long been suspected as drivers of angiosperm diversification, yet empirical examples remain sparse or inconclusive. Seed dispersal by ants (myrmecochory) may drive diversification as it can reduce extinction by providing selective advantages to plants and can increase speciation by enhancing geographical isolation by extremely limited dispersal distances. Using the most comprehensive sister-group comparison to date, we tested the hypothesis that myrmecochory leads to higher diversification rates in angiosperm plants. As predicted, diversification rates were substantially higher in ant-dispersed plants than in their non-myrmecochorous relatives. Data from 101 angiosperm lineages in 241 genera from all continents except Antarctica revealed that ant-dispersed lineages contained on average more than twice as many species as did their non-myrmecochorous sister groups. Contrasts in species diversity between sister groups demonstrated that diversification rates did not depend on seed dispersal mode in the sister group and were higher in myrmecochorous lineages in most biogeographic regions. Myrmecochory, which has evolved independently at least 100 times in angiosperms and is estimated to be present in at least 77 families and 11 000 species, is a key evolutionary innovation and a globally important driver of plant diversity. Myrmecochory provides the best example to date for a consistent effect of any mutualism on large-scale diversification.

  16. Nitrogen and Phosphorus Plant Uptake During Periods with no Photosynthesis Accounts for About Half of Global Annual Uptake

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riley, W. J.; Zhu, Q.; Tang, J.

    2017-12-01

    Uncertainties in current Earth System Model (ESM) predictions of terrestrial carbon-climate feedbacks over the 21st century are as large as, or larger than, any other reported natural system uncertainties. Soil Organic Matter (SOM) decomposition and photosynthesis, the dominant fluxes in this regard, are tightly linked through nutrient availability, and the recent Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 5 (CMIP5) used for climate change assessment had no credible representations of these constraints. In response, many ESM land models (ESMLMs) have developed dynamic and coupled soil and plant nutrient cycles. Here we quantify terrestrial carbon cycle impacts from well-known observed plant nutrient uptake mechanisms ignored in most current ESMLMs. In particular, we estimate the global role of plant root nutrient competition with microbes and abiotic process at night and during the non-growing season using the ACME land model (ALMv1-ECA-CNP) that explicitly represents these dynamics. We first demonstrate that short-term nutrient uptake dynamics and competition between plants and microbes are accurately predicted by the model compared to 15N and 33P isotopic tracer measurements from more than 20 sites. We then show that global nighttime and non-growing season nitrogen and phosphorus uptake accounts for 46 and 45%, respectively, of annual uptake, with large latitudinal variation. Model experiments show that ignoring these plant uptake periods leads to large positive biases in annual N leaching (globally 58%) and N2O emissions (globally 68%). Biases these large will affect modeled carbon cycle dynamics over time, and lead to predictions of ecosystems that have overly open nutrient cycles and therefore lower capacity to sequester carbon.

  17. A global method for calculating plant CSR ecological strategies applied across biomes world-wide

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pierce, S.; Negreiros, D.; Cerabolini, B.E.L.; Kattge, J.; Díaz, S.; Kleyer, M.; Shipley, B.; Wright, S.J.; Soudzilovskaia, N.A.; Onipchenko, V.G.; van Bodegom, P.M.; Frenette-Dussault, C.; Weiher, E.; Pinho, B.X.; Cornelissen, J.H.C.; Grime, J.P.; Thompson, K.; Hunt, R.; Wilson, P.J.; Buffa, G.; Nyakunga, O.C.; Reich, P.B.; Caccianiga, M.; Mangili, F.; Ceriani, R.M.; Luzzaro, A.; Brusa, G.; Siefert, A.; Barbosa, N.P.U.; Chapin III, F.S.; Cornwell, W.K.; Fang, Jingyun; Wilson Fernandez, G.; Garnier, E.; Le Stradic, S.; Peñuelas, J.; Melo, F.P.L.; Slaviero, A.; Tabarrelli, M.; Tampucci, D.

    2017-01-01

    Competitor, stress-tolerator, ruderal (CSR) theory is a prominent plant functional strategy scheme previously applied to local floras. Globally, the wide geographic and phylogenetic coverage of available values of leaf area (LA), leaf dry matter content (LDMC) and specific leaf area (SLA)

  18. Global warming increases the interspecific competitiveness of the invasive plant alligator weed, Alternanthera philoxeroides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Hao; Ismail, Mohannad; Ding, Jianqing

    2017-01-01

    Global warming could accelerate the spread of invasive species to higher latitudes and intensify their effects on native species. Here, we report results of two years of field surveys along a latitudinal gradient (21°N to 31°N) in southern China, to determine the species structure of the invasive plant Alternanthera philoxeroides community. We also performed a replacement series experiment (mono and mixed) to evaluate the effects of elevated temperature on the competitiveness of A. philoxeroides with the native co-occurring species Digitaria sanguinalis. In the field survey, we found that the dominance of A. philoxeroides increased with increasing of latitude gradient while cover of D. sanguinalis decreased. In monospecific plantings, artificial warming reduced the length of D. sanguinalis roots. In mixed plantings, warming reduced both A. philoxeroides abundance and D. sanguinalis stem length when A. philoxeroides was more prevalent in the planting. Warming also significantly reduced D. sanguinalis biomass, but increased that of A. philoxeroides. In addition, elevated temperatures significantly reduced the relative yield (RY) of D. sanguinalis, particularly when A. philoxeroides was planted in higher proportion in the plot. These results suggest that the invasiveness of A. philoxeroides increased with increasing latitude, and that warming may increase the effectiveness of its interspecific competition with D. sanguinalis. Hence, under global warming conditions, the harm to native species from A. philoxeroides would increase at higher latitudes. Our findings are critical for predicting the invasiveness of alien species under climate change. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Global Value Chain and Manufacturing Analysis on Geothermal Power Plant Turbines

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akar, Sertac [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Augustine, Chad R [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kurup, Parthiv [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mann, Margaret K [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-10-04

    The global geothermal electricity market has significantly grown over the last decade and is expected to reach a total installed capacity of 18.4 GWe in 2021 (GEA, 2016). Currently, geothermal project developers customize the size of the power plant to fit the resource being developed. In particular, the turbine is designed and sized to optimize efficiency and resource utilization for electricity production; most often, other power plant components are then chosen to complement the turbine design. These custom turbine designs demand one-off manufacturing processes, which result in higher manufacturing setup costs, longer lead-times, and higher capital costs overall in comparison to larger-volume line manufacturing processes. In contrast, turbines produced in standard increments, manufactured in larger volumes, could result in lower costs per turbine. This study focuses on analysis of the global supply chain and manufacturing costs for Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turboexpanders and steam turbines used in geothermal power plants. In this study, we developed a manufacturing cost model to identify requirements for equipment, facilities, raw materials, and labor. We analyzed three different cases 1) 1 MWe geothermal ORC turboexpander 2) 5 MWe ORC turboexpander and 3) 20 MWe geothermal steam turbine, and calculated the cost of manufacturing the major components, such as the impellers/blades, shaft/rotor, nozzles, inlet guide lanes, disks, and casings. Then we used discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to calculate the minimum sustainable price (MSP). MSP is the minimum price that a company must sell its product for in order to pay back the capital and operating expenses during the plant lifetime (CEMAC, 2017). The results showed that MSP could highly vary between 893 dollar/kW and 30 dollar/kW based on turbine size, standardization and volume of manufacturing. The analysis also showed that the economy of scale applies both to the size of the turbine and the number

  20. Response of smooth rock skullcap (Scutellaria saxatilis), a globally rare plant, to fire

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cynthia D. Huebner; Kent Karriker

    2015-01-01

    Scutellaria saxatilis Riddell (smooth rock skullcap or rock skullcap, hereafter abbreviated as SRS), a herbaceous perennial in the mint family, is a globally rare (G3) plant. In West Virginia, SRS is categorized as an S2 species (imperiled and at high risk of extinction due to a very restricted range, very few [

  1. Improving Fiber Alignment in HARDI by Combining Contextual PDE Flow with Constrained Spherical Deconvolution.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J M Portegies

    Full Text Available We propose two strategies to improve the quality of tractography results computed from diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI data. Both methods are based on the same PDE framework, defined in the coupled space of positions and orientations, associated with a stochastic process describing the enhancement of elongated structures while preserving crossing structures. In the first method we use the enhancement PDE for contextual regularization of a fiber orientation distribution (FOD that is obtained on individual voxels from high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI data via constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD. Thereby we improve the FOD as input for subsequent tractography. Secondly, we introduce the fiber to bundle coherence (FBC, a measure for quantification of fiber alignment. The FBC is computed from a tractography result using the same PDE framework and provides a criterion for removing the spurious fibers. We validate the proposed combination of CSD and enhancement on phantom data and on human data, acquired with different scanning protocols. On the phantom data we find that PDE enhancements improve both local metrics and global metrics of tractography results, compared to CSD without enhancements. On the human data we show that the enhancements allow for a better reconstruction of crossing fiber bundles and they reduce the variability of the tractography output with respect to the acquisition parameters. Finally, we show that both the enhancement of the FODs and the use of the FBC measure on the tractography improve the stability with respect to different stochastic realizations of probabilistic tractography. This is shown in a clinical application: the reconstruction of the optic radiation for epilepsy surgery planning.

  2. Projected impacts of climate change on regional capacities for global plant species richness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sommer, Jan Henning; Kreft, Holger; Kier, Gerold; Jetz, Walter; Mutke, Jens; Barthlott, Wilhelm

    2010-08-07

    Climate change represents a major challenge to the maintenance of global biodiversity. To date, the direction and magnitude of net changes in the global distribution of plant diversity remain elusive. We use the empirical multi-variate relationships between contemporary water-energy dynamics and other non-climatic predictor variables to model the regional capacity for plant species richness (CSR) and its projected future changes. We find that across all analysed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emission scenarios, relative changes in CSR increase with increased projected temperature rise. Between now and 2100, global average CSR is projected to remain similar to today (+0.3%) under the optimistic B1/+1.8 degrees C scenario, but to decrease significantly (-9.4%) under the 'business as usual' A1FI/+4.0 degrees C scenario. Across all modelled scenarios, the magnitude and direction of CSR change are geographically highly non-uniform. While in most temperate and arctic regions, a CSR increase is expected, the projections indicate a strong decline in most tropical and subtropical regions. Countries least responsible for past and present greenhouse gas emissions are likely to incur disproportionately large future losses in CSR, whereas industrialized countries have projected moderate increases. Independent of direction, we infer that all changes in regional CSR will probably induce on-site species turnover and thereby be a threat to native floras.

  3. Replacement of chlorofluorocarbons at the DOE gaseous diffusion plants: An assessment of global impacts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Socolof, M.L.; McCold, L.N.; Saylor, R.E.

    1997-01-01

    Three gaseous diffusion plants (GDPs) for enriching uranium maintain a large inventory of chlorofluorocarbon-114 (CFC-114) as a coolant. To address the continued use of CFC-114, an ozone-depleting substance, the US Department of Energy (DOE) considered introducing perfluorocarbons (PFCs) by the end of 1995. These PFCs would not contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion but would be larger contributors to global warming than would CFC-114. The paper reports the results of an assessment of the global impacts of four alternatives for modifying GDP coolant system operations over a three-year period beginning in 1996. The overall contribution of GDP coolant releases to impacts on ozone depletion and global warming were quantified by parameters referred to as ozone-depletion impact and global-warming impact. The analysis showed that these parameters could be used as surrogates for predicting global impacts to all resources and could provide a framework for assessing environmental impacts of a permanent coolant replacement, eliminating the need for subsequent resource-specific analyses

  4. Taylor coefficients and coefficient multipliers of Hardy and Bergman-type spaces

    CERN Document Server

    Jevtić, Miroljub; Arsenović, Miloš

    2016-01-01

    This book provides a systematic overview of the theory of Taylor coefficients of functions in some classical spaces of analytic functions and especially of the coefficient multipliers between spaces of Hardy type. Offering a comprehensive reference guide to the subject, it is the first of its kind in this area. After several introductory chapters covering the basic material, a large variety of results obtained over the past 80 years, including the most recent ones, are treated in detail. Several chapters end with discussions of practical applications and related topics that graduate students and experts in other subjects may find useful for their own purposes. Thus, a further aim of the book is to communicate to non-specialists some concrete facts that may be of value in their own work. The book can also be used as a textbook or a supplementary reference for an advanced graduate course. It is primarily intended for specialists in complex and functional analysis, graduate students, and experts in other related...

  5. A roadmap for global synthesis of the plant tree of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eiserhardt, Wolf L; Antonelli, Alexandre; Bennett, Dominic J; Botigué, Laura R; Burleigh, J Gordon; Dodsworth, Steven; Enquist, Brian J; Forest, Félix; Kim, Jan T; Kozlov, Alexey M; Leitch, Ilia J; Maitner, Brian S; Mirarab, Siavash; Piel, William H; Pérez-Escobar, Oscar A; Pokorny, Lisa; Rahbek, Carsten; Sandel, Brody; Smith, Stephen A; Stamatakis, Alexandros; Vos, Rutger A; Warnow, Tandy; Baker, William J

    2018-03-01

    Providing science and society with an integrated, up-to-date, high quality, open, reproducible and sustainable plant tree of life would be a huge service that is now coming within reach. However, synthesizing the growing body of DNA sequence data in the public domain and disseminating the trees to a diverse audience are often not straightforward due to numerous informatics barriers. While big synthetic plant phylogenies are being built, they remain static and become quickly outdated as new data are published and tree-building methods improve. Moreover, the body of existing phylogenetic evidence is hard to navigate and access for non-experts. We propose that our community of botanists, tree builders, and informaticians should converge on a modular framework for data integration and phylogenetic analysis, allowing easy collaboration, updating, data sourcing and flexible analyses. With support from major institutions, this pipeline should be re-run at regular intervals, storing trees and their metadata long-term. Providing the trees to a diverse global audience through user-friendly front ends and application development interfaces should also be a priority. Interactive interfaces could be used to solicit user feedback and thus improve data quality and to coordinate the generation of new data. We conclude by outlining a number of steps that we suggest the scientific community should take to achieve global phylogenetic synthesis. © 2018 Botanical Society of America.

  6. Global Thermal Power Plants Database: Unit-Based CO2, SO2, NOX and PM2.5 Emissions in 2010

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tong, D.; Qiang, Z.; Davis, S. J.

    2016-12-01

    There are more than 30,000 thermal power plants now operating worldwide, reflecting a tremendously diverse infrastructure that includes units burning oil, natural gas, coal and biomass and ranging in capacity from 1GW. Although the electricity generated by this infrastructure is vital to economic activities across the world, it also produces more CO2 and air pollution emissions than any other industry sector. Here we present a new database of global thermal power-generating units and their emissions as of 2010, GPED (Global Power Emissions Database), including the detailed unit information of installed capacity, operation year, geographic location, fuel type and control measures for more than 70000 units. In this study, we have compiled, combined, and harmonized the available underlying data related to thermal power-generating units (e.g. eGRID of USA, CPED of China and published Indian power plants database), and then analyzed the generating capacity, capacity factor, fuel type, age, location, and installed pollution-control technology in order to determine those units with disproportionately high levels of emissions. In total, this work is of great importance for improving spatial distribution of global thermal power plants emissions and exploring their environmental impacts at global scale.

  7. A Collision of Vice and Virtue in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles: "A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented" or a Fallen Angel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saleh, Nafiseh Salman; Abbasi, Pyeaam

    2014-01-01

    Heralded as a sympathizer with the oppressed nineteenth century femininity, Thomas Hardy adopted an aggressive stance towards the institutionalized codes of the time, particularly the ideal of femininity which results in presenting him as one of the promethean forerunners of "New Woman" fiction. His outspoken attitudes are tangible in…

  8. Plant communities as drivers of soil respiration: pathways, mechanisms, and significance for global change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalfe, D. B.; Fisher, R. A.; Wardle, D. A.

    2011-03-01

    Understanding the impacts of plant community characteristics on soil carbon dioxide efflux (R) is a key prerequisite for accurate prediction of the future carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change. In this review, we synthesize relevant information from a wide spectrum of sources to evaluate the current state of knowledge about plant community effects on R, examine how this information is incorporated into global climate models, and highlight priorities for future research. Plant species consistently exhibit cohesive suites of traits, linked to contrasting life history strategies, which exert a variety of impacts on R. As such, we propose that plant community shifts towards dominance by fast growing plants with nutrient rich litter could provide a major, though often neglected, positive feedback to climate change. Within vegetation types, belowground carbon flux will mainly be controlled by photosynthesis, while amongst vegetation types this flux will be more dependent upon the specific characteristics of the plant life form. We also make the case that community composition, rather than diversity, is usually the dominant control on ecosystem processes in natural systems. Individual species impacts on R may be largest where the species accounts for most of the biomass in the ecosystem, has very distinct traits to the rest of the community, or modulates the occurrence of major natural disturbances. We show that climate-vegetation models incorporate a number of pathways whereby plants can affect R, but that simplifications regarding allocation schemes and drivers of litter decomposition may limit model accuracy. This situation could, however, be relatively easily improved with targeted experimental and field studies. Finally, we identify key gaps in knowledge and recommend them as priorities for future work. These include the patterns of photosynthate partitioning amongst belowground components, ecosystem level effects of individual plant traits

  9. Gene expression profiling--Opening the black box of plant ecosystem responses to global change

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leakey, A.D.B.; Ainsworth, E.A.; Bernard, S.M.; Markelz, R.J.C.; Ort, D.R.; Placella, S.A.P.; Rogers, A.; Smith, M.D.; Sudderth, E.A.; Weston, D.J.; Wullschleger, S.D.; Yuan, S.

    2009-11-01

    The use of genomic techniques to address ecological questions is emerging as the field of genomic ecology. Experimentation under environmentally realistic conditions to investigate the molecular response of plants to meaningful changes in growth conditions and ecological interactions is the defining feature of genomic ecology. Since the impact of global change factors on plant performance are mediated by direct effects at the molecular, biochemical and physiological scales, gene expression analysis promises important advances in understanding factors that have previously been consigned to the 'black box' of unknown mechanism. Various tools and approaches are available for assessing gene expression in model and non-model species as part of global change biology studies. Each approach has its own unique advantages and constraints. A first generation of genomic ecology studies in managed ecosystems and mesocosms have provided a testbed for the approach and have begun to reveal how the experimental design and data analysis of gene expression studies can be tailored for use in an ecological context.

  10. Short communication. Impact of the amino acid proline on the cold hardiness of honey bee, Apis mellifera L.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Mollaei

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Like many insects, honey bee can increase its cold tolerance through freeze avoidance, using antifreeze proteins (AFPs to lower its supercooling point (SCP. Proline is the most dominant amino acid in honey bee hemolymph, which can be obtained by the insect through feeding. In the current study the antifreeze activity of this amino acid was evaluated on worker honey bees, immediately before the start of cold season. The experiment was established on four treatments including three different concentrations of proline (1%, 3% and 4.35% diluted in 1:1 water sucrose syrup, and the syrup without proline (control. Newly emerged worker honey bees were fed on the mentioned diets for 2 weeks, under cage condition, and then 20 bees from each treatment (cage were selected randomly for determination of cold hardiness inside a cooling bath. Using a CHY data logger, equipped with a K100 sensor attached to the bee’s gaster, the SCP, the amount of released heat and the rate of this release as measures of insect cold hardiness were recorded. Proline significantly reduced honey bees’ SCP. The lowest point, -7.67±0.2646°C, was observed in the concentration of 1% proline. The amount of released heat and the rate of this release were not significantly different across the treatments.

  11. Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN): toward standardized evaluation of the ecological impacts of invasive plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barney, Jacob N; Tekiela, Daniel R; Barrios-Garcia, Maria Noelia; Dimarco, Romina D; Hufbauer, Ruth A; Leipzig-Scott, Peter; Nuñez, Martin A; Pauchard, Aníbal; Pyšek, Petr; Vítková, Michaela; Maxwell, Bruce D

    2015-07-01

    Terrestrial invasive plants are a global problem and are becoming ubiquitous components of most ecosystems. They are implicated in altering disturbance regimes, reducing biodiversity, and changing ecosystem function, sometimes in profound and irreversible ways. However, the ecological impacts of most invasive plants have not been studied experimentally, and most research to date focuses on few types of impacts, which can vary greatly among studies. Thus, our knowledge of existing ecological impacts ascribed to invasive plants is surprisingly limited in both breadth and depth. Our aim was to propose a standard methodology for quantifying baseline ecological impact that, in theory, is scalable to any terrestrial plant invader (e.g., annual grasses to trees) and any invaded system (e.g., grassland to forest). The Global Invader Impact Network (GIIN) is a coordinated distributed experiment composed of an observational and manipulative methodology. The protocol consists of a series of plots located in (1) an invaded area; (2) an adjacent removal treatment within the invaded area; and (3) a spatially separate uninvaded area thought to be similar to pre-invasion conditions of the invaded area. A standardized and inexpensive suite of community, soil, and ecosystem metrics are collected allowing broad comparisons among measurements, populations, and species. The method allows for one-time comparisons and for long-term monitoring enabling one to derive information about change due to invasion over time. Invader removal plots will also allow for quantification of legacy effects and their return rates, which will be monitored for several years. GIIN uses a nested hierarchical scale approach encompassing multiple sites, regions, and continents. Currently, GIIN has network members in six countries, with new members encouraged. To date, study species include representatives of annual and perennial grasses; annual and perennial forbs; shrubs; and trees. The goal of the GIIN

  12. Effect of storage temperature and duration on cold hardiness and dormancy of northern red oak seedlings: use of the electrolyte leakage procedure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrett C. Wilson; Douglass F. Jacobs

    2005-01-01

    Electrolyte leakage (EL) has successfully predicted cold hardiness of conifer seedlings in both research and commercial settings. EL has also been performed experimentally on European hardwood species. The objective of our study was to determine if further refinement and adjustment of EL methodology to account for the unique characteristics of hardwood seedlings (e.g...

  13. Global Value Chain and Manufacturing Analysis on Geothermal Power Plant Turbines: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akar, Sertac [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Augustine, Chad R [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Kurup, Parthiv [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Mann, Margaret K [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

    2017-11-03

    The global geothermal electricity market has significantly grown over the last decade and is expected to reach a total installed capacity of 18.4 GWe in 2021 (GEA, 2016). Currently, geothermal project developers customize the size of the power plant to fit the resource being developed. In particular, the turbine is designed and sized to optimize efficiency and resource utilization for electricity production; most often, other power plant components are then chosen to complement the turbine design. These custom turbine designs demand one-off manufacturing processes, which result in higher manufacturing setup costs, longer lead-times, and higher capital costs overall in comparison to larger-volume line manufacturing processes. In contrast, turbines produced in standard increments, manufactured in larger volumes, could result in lower costs per turbine. This study focuses on analysis of the global supply chain and manufacturing costs for Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turboexpanders and steam turbines used in geothermal power plants. In this study, we developed a manufacturing cost model to identify requirements for equipment, facilities, raw materials, and labor. We analyzed three different cases 1) 1 MWe geothermal ORC turboexpander 2) 5 MWe ORC turboexpander and 3) 20 MWe geothermal steam turbine, and calculated the cost of manufacturing the major components, such as the impellers/blades, shaft/rotor, nozzles, inlet guide lanes, disks, and casings. Then we used discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis to calculate the minimum sustainable price (MSP). MSP is the minimum price that a company must sell its product for in order to pay back the capital and operating expenses during the plant lifetime (CEMAC, 2017). The results showed that MSP could highly vary between 893 dollar/kW and 30 dollar/kW based on turbine size, standardization and volume of manufacturing. The analysis also showed that the economy of scale applies both to the size of the turbine and the number

  14. The hardiness of numerical simulation of TIG welding. Application to stainless steel 316L structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Ahmar, Walid; Jullien, Jean-Francois; Gilles, Philippe; Taheri, Said; Boitout, Frederic

    2006-01-01

    The welding numerical simulation is considered as one of the mechanics problems the most un-linear on account of the great number of the parameters required. The analysis of the hardiness of the welding numerical simulation is a current questioning whose expectation is to specify welding numerical simulation procedures allowing to guarantee the reliability of the numerical result. In this work has been quantified the aspect 'uncertainties-sensitivity' imputable to different parameters which occur in the simulation of stainless steel 316L structures welded by the TIG process: that is to say the mechanical and thermophysical parameters, the types of modeling, the adopted behaviour laws, the modeling of the heat contribution.. (O.M.)

  15. A global Fine-Root Ecology Database to address below-ground challenges in plant ecology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iversen, Colleen M; McCormack, M Luke; Powell, A Shafer; Blackwood, Christopher B; Freschet, Grégoire T; Kattge, Jens; Roumet, Catherine; Stover, Daniel B; Soudzilovskaia, Nadejda A; Valverde-Barrantes, Oscar J; van Bodegom, Peter M; Violle, Cyrille

    2017-07-01

    Variation and tradeoffs within and among plant traits are increasingly being harnessed by empiricists and modelers to understand and predict ecosystem processes under changing environmental conditions. While fine roots play an important role in ecosystem functioning, fine-root traits are underrepresented in global trait databases. This has hindered efforts to analyze fine-root trait variation and link it with plant function and environmental conditions at a global scale. This Viewpoint addresses the need for a centralized fine-root trait database, and introduces the Fine-Root Ecology Database (FRED, http://roots.ornl.gov) which so far includes > 70 000 observations encompassing a broad range of root traits and also includes associated environmental data. FRED represents a critical step toward improving our understanding of below-ground plant ecology. For example, FRED facilitates the quantification of variation in fine-root traits across root orders, species, biomes, and environmental gradients while also providing a platform for assessments of covariation among root, leaf, and wood traits, the role of fine roots in ecosystem functioning, and the representation of fine roots in terrestrial biosphere models. Continued input of observations into FRED to fill gaps in trait coverage will improve our understanding of changes in fine-root traits across space and time. © 2017 UT-Battelle LLC. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.

  16. Increased nutritional quality of plants for long-duration spaceflight missions through choice of plant variety and manipulation of growth conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohu, Christopher M.; Lombardi, Elizabeth; Adams, William W.; Demmig-Adams, Barbara

    2014-02-01

    Low levels of radiation during spaceflight increase the incidence of eye damage and consumption of certain carotenoids (especially zeaxanthin), via a whole-food-based diet (rather than from supplements), is recommended to protect human vision against radiation damage. Availability of fresh leafy produce has, furthermore, been identified as desirable for morale during long spaceflight missions. We report that only trace amounts of zeaxanthin are retained post-harvest in leaves grown under conditions conducive to rapid plant growth. We show that growth of plants under cool temperatures and very high light can trigger a greater retention of zeaxanthin, while, however, simultaneously retarding plant growth. We here introduce a novel growth condition—low growth light supplemented with several short daily light pulses of higher intensity—that also triggers zeaxanthin retention, but without causing any growth retardation. Moreover, two plant varieties with different hardiness exhibited a different propensity for zeaxanthin retention. These findings demonstrate that growth light environment and plant variety can be exploited to simultaneously optimize nutritional quality (with respect to zeaxanthin and two other carotenoids important for human vision, lutein and β-carotene) as well as biomass production of leafy greens suitable as bioregenerative systems for long-duration manned spaceflight missions.

  17. Plant physiological ecology and the global changes Ecofisiologia vegetal e as mudanças globais

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Paulo Rodrigues Alves Delfino Barbosa

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available The global changes are marked by alteration on the normal patterns of important biochemical and biophysical processes of the Earth. However, the real effects as well as the feedbacks of the global changes over vegetation are still unclear. Part of this uncertainty can be attributed to the inattention of stakeholders and scientists towards vegetation and its complex interrelations with the environment, which drive plant physiological processes in different space-time scales. Notwithstanding, some key subjects of the global changes could be better elucidated with a more plant physiological ecology approach. We discuss some issues related to this topic, going through some limitations of approaching vegetation as a static component of the biosphere as the other sub-systems of the Earth-system change. With this perspective, this review is an initial reflection towards the assessment of the role and place of vegetation structure and function in the global changes context. We reviewed the Earth-system and global changes terminology; attempted to illustrate key plant physiological ecology researches themes in the global changes context; consider approaching plants as complex systems in order to adequately quantify systems characteristics as sensibility, homeostasis, and vulnerability. Moreover, we propose insights that would allow vegetation studies and scaling procedures in the context of the Earth-system. We hope this review will assist researchers on their strategy to identify, understand and anticipate the potential effects of global changes over the most vulnerable vegetation processes from the leaf to the global levels.As mudanças globais englobam importantes alterações nos padrões normais de processos bioquímicos e biofísicos da Terra. Os reais efeitos e retroalimentações das mudanças globais sobre a vegetação ainda são incertos. Parte das incertezas pode ser atribuída à falta de atenção de cientistas e políticos para a vegeta

  18. The challenge of the global management of plant design modifications. example of the new EJ system at Vandellos NPP

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ortega, Fernando; Valdivia, Carlos; Fernandez Illobre, Luis; Trueba, Pedro

    2010-01-01

    One of the most challenging areas in the operation of nuclear power plants (NPP) is related to the management of plant design modifications. Plant modifications can be made to improve reliability, facilitate operation, improve safety or get better results. In any of these situations, plant modifications imply many different activities that have to be done in a coordinated manner. NUREG-0711 (Human Factors Engineering Program Review Model) shows a global approach to manage most of these activities. Although this approach is mainly focused on the design and construction of new plants, it can also be applied to plant modification management. Successful global management will require performing every activity in a specific order, taking advantage of the output coming from some tasks as input for others and finalizing every task when necessary. This will provide the best results in terms of quality, time required for implementation, safe and reliable operation and maintenance, and cost. Tecnatom is involved in most of the activities related to the operational areas and has applied a global approach to get advantages in terms of quality and cost, which is outlined in this paper. As an example of this approach, the Vandellos NPP experience is shown in this presentation. Vandellos NPP carried out an important design modification that consists of replacing an old essential service water system with a new one. This was a three-year project that implied the construction of new reservoirs, new buildings, the implementation of new equipment, and new panels in the main control room. This paper shows the way in which all of these activities were performed. (authors)

  19. Automated retinofugal visual pathway reconstruction with multi-shell HARDI and FOD-based analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kammen, Alexandra; Law, Meng; Tjan, Bosco S; Toga, Arthur W; Shi, Yonggang

    2016-01-15

    Diffusion MRI tractography provides a non-invasive modality to examine the human retinofugal projection, which consists of the optic nerves, optic chiasm, optic tracts, the lateral geniculate nuclei (LGN) and the optic radiations. However, the pathway has several anatomic features that make it particularly challenging to study with tractography, including its location near blood vessels and bone-air interface at the base of the cerebrum, crossing fibers at the chiasm, somewhat-tortuous course around the temporal horn via Meyer's Loop, and multiple closely neighboring fiber bundles. To date, these unique complexities of the visual pathway have impeded the development of a robust and automated reconstruction method using tractography. To overcome these challenges, we develop a novel, fully automated system to reconstruct the retinofugal visual pathway from high-resolution diffusion imaging data. Using multi-shell, high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) data, we reconstruct precise fiber orientation distributions (FODs) with high order spherical harmonics (SPHARM) to resolve fiber crossings, which allows the tractography algorithm to successfully navigate the complicated anatomy surrounding the retinofugal pathway. We also develop automated algorithms for the identification of ROIs used for fiber bundle reconstruction. In particular, we develop a novel approach to extract the LGN region of interest (ROI) based on intrinsic shape analysis of a fiber bundle computed from a seed region at the optic chiasm to a target at the primary visual cortex. By combining automatically identified ROIs and FOD-based tractography, we obtain a fully automated system to compute the main components of the retinofugal pathway, including the optic tract and the optic radiation. We apply our method to the multi-shell HARDI data of 215 subjects from the Human Connectome Project (HCP). Through comparisons with post-mortem dissection measurements, we demonstrate the retinotopic

  20. Predicted global warming scenarios impact on the mother plant to alter seed dormancy and germination behaviour in Arabidopsis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Z; Footitt, S; Tang, A; Finch-Savage, W E

    2018-01-01

    Seed characteristics are key components of plant fitness that are influenced by temperature in their maternal environment, and temperature will change with global warming. To study the effect of such temperature changes, Arabidopsis thaliana plants were grown to produce seeds along a uniquely designed polyethylene tunnel having a thermal gradient reflecting local global warming predictions. Plants therefore experienced the same variations in temperature and light conditions but different mean temperatures. A range of seed-related plant fitness estimates were measured. There were dramatic non-linear temperature effects on the germination behaviour in two contrasting ecotypes. Maternal temperatures lower than 15-16 °C resulted in significantly greater primary dormancy. In addition, the impact of nitrate in the growing media on dormancy was shown only by seeds produced below 15-16 °C. However, there were no consistent effects on seed yield, number, or size. Effects on germination behaviour were shown to be a species characteristic responding to temperature and not time of year. Elevating temperature above this critical value during seed development has the potential to dramatically alter the timing of subsequent seed germination and the proportion entering the soil seed bank. This has potential consequences for the whole plant life cycle and species fitness. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Análisis genético molecular del Oso Andino ( Tremarctos ornatus en el norte de los andes (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador: Una visión global

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Ruiz-García

    2001-07-01

    G10B, G10C y G10X. Un exhaustivo análisis genético poblacional permitió determinar los siguientes aspectos fundamentales: (1 No existencia de equilibrio Hardy-Weinberg ni en el conjunto global de muestras ni en el conjunto particular de muestras para cada uno de esos países, al utilizar los tests exactos con cadenas de Markov y con el método de Fisher.

  2. Plant communities as drivers of soil respiration: pathways, mechanisms, and significance for global change

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalfe, D. B.; Fisher, R. A.; Wardle, D. A.

    2011-08-01

    Understanding the impacts of plant community characteristics on soil carbon dioxide efflux (R) is a key prerequisite for accurate prediction of the future carbon (C) balance of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change. However, developing a mechanistic understanding of the determinants of R is complicated by the presence of multiple different sources of respiratory C within soil - such as soil microbes, plant roots and their mycorrhizal symbionts - each with their distinct dynamics and drivers. In this review, we synthesize relevant information from a wide spectrum of sources to evaluate the current state of knowledge about plant community effects on R, examine how this information is incorporated into global climate models, and highlight priorities for future research. Despite often large variation amongst studies and methods, several general trends emerge. Mechanisms whereby plants affect R may be grouped into effects on belowground C allocation, aboveground litter properties and microclimate. Within vegetation types, the amount of C diverted belowground, and hence R, may be controlled mainly by the rate of photosynthetic C uptake, while amongst vegetation types this should be more dependent upon the specific C allocation strategies of the plant life form. We make the case that plant community composition, rather than diversity, is usually the dominant control on R in natural systems. Individual species impacts on R may be largest where the species accounts for most of the biomass in the ecosystem, has very distinct traits to the rest of the community and/or modulates the occurrence of major natural disturbances. We show that climate vegetation models incorporate a number of pathways whereby plants can affect R, but that simplifications regarding allocation schemes and drivers of litter decomposition may limit model accuracy. We also suggest that under a warmer future climate, many plant communities may shift towards dominance by fast growing plants which

  3. How organizational and global factors condition the effects of energy efficiency on CO_2 emission rebounds among the world's power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grant, Don; Jorgenson, Andrew K.; Longhofer, Wesley

    2016-01-01

    The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and several nations suggest that energy efficiency is an effective strategy for reducing energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Skeptics contend that because efficiency lowers the price of energy and energy services, it may actually increase demand for them, causing total emissions to rise. While both sides of this debate have researched the magnitude of these so-called rebound effects among end-use consumers, researchers have paid less attention to the conditions under which direct rebounds cause CO_2 emissions to rise among industrial producers. In particular, researchers have yet to explore how organizational and global factors might condition the effects of efficiency on emissions among power plants, the world's most concentrated sources of anthropogenic greenhouse gases. Here we use a unique dataset containing nearly every fossil-fuel power plant in the world to determine whether the impact of efficiency on emissions varies by plants' age, size, and location in global economic and normative systems. Findings reveal that each of these factors has a significant interaction with efficiency and thus shapes environmentally destructive rebound effects. - Highlights: •Skeptics charge that energy efficiency may actually cause CO_2 emissions to rise. •Few have examined whether such rebound effects occur among power plants. •Little also known about whether plants' organizational and global characteristics condition rebounds. •Conduct first analysis of rebound effects among the world's power plants. •Rebounds found to depend on plants' age, size, and location in international economic and normative systems.

  4. On S.N. Bernstein's derivation of Mendel's Law and 'rediscovery' of the Hardy-Weinberg distribution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alan Stark

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Around 1923 the soon-to-be famous Soviet mathematician and probabilist Sergei N. Bernstein started to construct an axiomatic foundation of a theory of heredity. He began from the premise of stationarity (constancy of type proportions from the first generation of offspring. This led him to derive the Mendelian coefficients of heredity. It appears that he had no direct influence on the subsequent development of population genetics. A basic assumption of Bernstein was that parents coupled randomly to produce offspring. This paper shows that a simple model of non-random mating, which nevertheless embodies a feature of the Hardy-Weinberg Law, can produce Mendelian coefficients of heredity while maintaining the population distribution. How W. Johannsen's monograph influenced Bernstein is discussed.

  5. Temperature studies with the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri: cold hardiness and temperature thresholds for oviposition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, David G; Wenninger, Erik J; Hentz, Matthew G

    2011-01-01

    This study was conducted to obtain information on the cold hardiness of the Asian citrus psyllid, Diaphorina citri Kuwayama (Hemiptera: Psyllidae), in Florida and to assess upper and lower temperature thresholds for oviposition. The psyllid is an important pest in citrus because it transmits the bacterial pathogens responsible for citrus greening disease, Huanglongbing, considered the most serious citrus disease worldwide. D. citri was first found in Florida during 1998, and the disease was discovered during 2005. Little was known regarding cold hardiness of D. citri, but Florida citrus is occasionally subjected to notable freeze events. Temperature and duration were each significant sources of variation in percent mortality of D. citri subjected to freeze events. Relatively large percentages of adults and nymphs survived after being exposed for several hours to temperatures as low as -5 to -6 °C. Relatively large percentages of eggs hatched after being exposed for several hours to temperatures as low as -8 °C. Research results indicated that adult D. citri become cold acclimated during the winter through exposure to cooler winter temperatures. There was no evidence that eggs became cold acclimated during winter. Cold acclimation in nymphs was not investigated. Research with adult D. citri from laboratory and greenhouse colonies revealed that mild to moderate freeze events were usually nonlethal to the D. citri irrespective of whether they were cold acclimated or not. Upper and lower temperature thresholds for oviposition were investigated because such information may be valuable in explaining the geographic distribution and potential spread of the pest from Florida as well as how cooler winter temperatures might limit population growth. The estimated lower and upper thresholds for oviposition were 16.0 and 41.6 °C, respectively; the estimated temperature of peak oviposition over a 48 h period was 29.6 °C.

  6. Premises and solutions regarding a global approach of gaseous pollutants emissions from the fossil fuel power plants in Romania

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tutuianu, O.; Fulger, E.D.; Vieru, A.; Feher, M.

    1996-01-01

    This paper deals with the present state of RENEL (Romanian Electricity Authority) - controlled thermal power plants from the point of view of technical aspects, utilized fuels and pollutant emissions. National and international regulations are also analyzed as well as their implications concerning the management of pollutant atmospheric emissions of the plants of RENEL. Starting from these premises the paper points out the advantage of global approach of pollution problems and offers solutions already implemented by RENEL. This global approach will result in an optimization of costs implied in pollutant emission limitations as the most efficient solution were found and applied. Having in view this treatment of the pollution problems, RENEL has submitted to the Ministry of the Industries and to the Ministry of Waters, Forests and Environmental Protection a 'Convention on the limitation of CO 2 , SO 2 and NO x emissions produced in the thermal power plants of RENEL'. (author)

  7. Global scale analysis and evaluation of an improved mechanistic representation of plant nitrogen and carbon dynamics in the Community Land Model (CLM)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghimire, B.; Riley, W. J.; Koven, C. D.; Randerson, J. T.; Mu, M.; Kattge, J.; Rogers, A.; Reich, P. B.

    2014-12-01

    In many ecosystems, nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for plant growth and productivity. However mechanistic representation of nitrogen uptake linked to root traits, and functional nitrogen allocation among different leaf enzymes involved in respiration and photosynthesis is currently lacking in Earth System models. The linkage between nitrogen availability and plant productivity is simplistically represented by potential photosynthesis rates, and is subsequently downregulated depending on nitrogen supply and other nitrogen consumers in the model (e.g., nitrification). This type of potential photosynthesis rate calculation is problematic for several reasons. Firstly, plants do not photosynthesize at potential rates and then downregulate. Secondly, there is considerable subjectivity on the meaning of potential photosynthesis rates. Thirdly, there exists lack of understanding on modeling these potential photosynthesis rates in a changing climate. In addition to model structural issues in representing photosynthesis rates, the role of plant roots in nutrient acquisition have been largely ignored in Earth System models. For example, in CLM4.5, nitrogen uptake is linked to leaf level processes (e.g., primarily productivity) rather than root scale process involved in nitrogen uptake. We present a new plant model for CLM with an improved mechanistic presentation of plant nitrogen uptake based on root scale Michaelis Menten kinetics, and stronger linkages between leaf nitrogen and plant productivity by inferring relationships observed in global databases of plant traits (including the TRY database and several individual studies). We also incorporate improved representation of plant nitrogen leaf allocation, especially in tropical regions where significant over-prediction of plant growth and productivity in CLM4.5 simulations exist. We evaluate our improved global model simulations using the International Land Model Benchmarking (ILAMB) framework. We conclude that

  8. A global analysis of the concentration and dynamics of non-structural carbohydrates in plants: does it matter under global change? (Invited)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sala, A.; Martínez-Vilalta, J.; Asencio, M.; Lloret, F.; Palacio, S.; Galiano, L.; Hoch, G.; Piper, F.

    2013-12-01

    Forests store significant amounts of C globally and recent reports of forest mortality world-wide have generated strong concern. Evidence suggests that increasing drought associated with climate change is a primary cause of tree stress and subsequent mortality. This has generated an urgent need to predict how forests will cope with increasing stress. Storage of non-structural C compounds (NSC, compounds not permanently invested in structural biomass that can later be used to support diverse plant functions) is critical for survival during periods when C assimilation does not meet demand. However, remarkable knowledge gaps exist to accurately predict plant growth and survival under climate change. Although trees accumulate relatively large pools of NSC, there is a strong debate on how these pools build up over time. On the one hand, it is frequently assumed that the build- up of NSC in trees occurs when supply via photosynthesis exceeds overall demands. If so, the abundant NSC pools in trees reflect an overabundance of C in the long term. An alternative explanation is that trees regulate NSC storage to maintain sufficient pools to cope with asynchronies between demand and supply and with stresses that long lived plants inevitably experience during their life time. However, our understanding of whether and how trees regulate storage in the long term is minimal. Here, we assembled a new global database to examine broad patterns of seasonal NSC variation across organs, life forms and biomes, and the degree to which NSC storage is depleted in plants under a wide range of natural conditions. We compiled seasonal data (at least three measurements over a minimum of four months) for ca. 200 wild species under natural conditions. On average, NSC account for ca. 8-10% of dry plant biomass. NSC and starch concentrations do not vary significantly with biome, but soluble sugars (SS) in plants from Mediterranean biomes are higher than in temperate or tropical biomes. On average

  9. The role of plant functional trade-offs for biodiversity changes and biome shifts under scenarios of global climatic change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Reu

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available The global geographic distribution of biodiversity and biomes is determined by species-specific physiological tolerances to climatic constraints. Current vegetation models employ empirical bioclimatic relationships to predict present-day vegetation patterns and to forecast biodiversity changes and biome shifts under climatic change. In this paper, we consider trade-offs in plant functioning and their responses under climatic changes to forecast and explain changes in plant functional richness and shifts in biome geographic distributions.

    The Jena Diversity model (JeDi simulates plant survival according to essential plant functional trade-offs, including ecophysiological processes such as water uptake, photosynthesis, allocation, reproduction and phenology. We use JeDi to quantify changes in plant functional richness and biome shifts between present-day and a range of possible future climates from two SRES emission scenarios (A2 and B1 and seven global climate models using metrics of plant functional richness and functional identity.

    Our results show (i a significant loss of plant functional richness in the tropics, (ii an increase in plant functional richness at mid and high latitudes, and (iii a pole-ward shift of biomes. While these results are consistent with the findings of empirical approaches, we are able to explain them in terms of the plant functional trade-offs involved in the allocation, metabolic and reproduction strategies of plants. We conclude that general aspects of plant physiological tolerances can be derived from functional trade-offs, which may provide a useful process- and trait-based alternative to bioclimatic relationships. Such a mechanistic approach may be particularly relevant when addressing vegetation responses to climatic changes that encounter novel combinations of climate parameters that do not exist under contemporary climate.

  10. Plant communities as drivers of soil respiration: pathways, mechanisms, and significance for global change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. B. Metcalfe

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available Understanding the impacts of plant community characteristics on soil carbon dioxide efflux (R is a key prerequisite for accurate prediction of the future carbon (C balance of terrestrial ecosystems under climate change. However, developing a mechanistic understanding of the determinants of R is complicated by the presence of multiple different sources of respiratory C within soil – such as soil microbes, plant roots and their mycorrhizal symbionts – each with their distinct dynamics and drivers. In this review, we synthesize relevant information from a wide spectrum of sources to evaluate the current state of knowledge about plant community effects on R, examine how this information is incorporated into global climate models, and highlight priorities for future research. Despite often large variation amongst studies and methods, several general trends emerge.

    Mechanisms whereby plants affect R may be grouped into effects on belowground C allocation, aboveground litter properties and microclimate. Within vegetation types, the amount of C diverted belowground, and hence R, may be controlled mainly by the rate of photosynthetic C uptake, while amongst vegetation types this should be more dependent upon the specific C allocation strategies of the plant life form. We make the case that plant community composition, rather than diversity, is usually the dominant control on R in natural systems. Individual species impacts on R may be largest where the species accounts for most of the biomass in the ecosystem, has very distinct traits to the rest of the community and/or modulates the occurrence of major natural disturbances. We show that climate vegetation models incorporate a number of pathways whereby plants can affect R, but that simplifications regarding allocation schemes and drivers of litter decomposition may limit model accuracy. We also suggest that under a warmer future

  11. An Lp−Lq version of Hardy's theorem for spherical Fourier transform on semisimple Lie groups

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Ben Farah

    2004-01-01

    Full Text Available We consider a real semisimple Lie group G with finite center and K a maximal compact subgroup of G. We prove an Lp−Lq version of Hardy's theorem for the spherical Fourier transform on G. More precisely, let a, b be positive real numbers, 1≤p, q≤∞, and f a K-bi-invariant measurable function on G such that ha−1f∈Lp(G and eb‖λ‖2ℱ(f∈Lq(+* (ha is the heat kernel on G. We establish that if ab≥1/4 and p or q is finite, then f=0 almost everywhere. If ab<1/4, we prove that for all p, q, there are infinitely many nonzero functions f and if ab=1/4 with p=q=∞, we have f=const ha.

  12. On the language and physiology of dormancy and quiescence in plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Considine, Michael J; Considine, John A

    2016-05-01

    The language of dormancy is rich and poetic, as researchers spanning disciplines and decades have attempted to understand the spell that entranced 'Sleeping Beauty', and how she was gently awoken. The misleading use of 'dormancy', applied to annual axillary buds, for example, has confounded progress. Language is increasingly important as genetic and genomic approaches become more accessible to species of agricultural and ecological importance. Here we examine how terminology has been applied to different eco-physiological states in plants, and with pertinent reference to quiescent states described in other domains of life, in order to place plant quiescence and dormancy in a more complete context than previously described. The physiological consensus defines latency or quiescence as opportunistic avoidance states, where growth resumes in favourable conditions. In contrast, the dormant state in higher plants is entrained in the life history of the organism. Competence to resume growth requires quantitative and specific conditioning. This definition applies only to the embryo of seeds and specialized meristems in higher plants; however, mechanistic control of dormancy extends to mobile signals from peripheral tissues and organs, such as the endosperm of seed or subtending leaf of buds. The distinction between dormancy, quiescence, and stress-hardiness remains poorly delineated, most particularly in buds of winter perennials, which comprise multiple meristems of differing organogenic states. Studies in seeds have shown that dormancy is not a monogenic trait, and limited study has thus far failed to canalize dormancy as seen in seeds and buds. We argue that a common language, based on physiology, is central to enable further dissection of the quiescent and dormant states in plants. We direct the topic largely to woody species showing a single cycle of growth and reproduction per year, as these bear the majority of global timber, fruit, and nut production, as well being

  13. Global variability in leaf respiration in relation to climate, plant functional types and leaf traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atkin, Owen K; Bloomfield, Keith J; Reich, Peter B; Tjoelker, Mark G; Asner, Gregory P; Bonal, Damien; Bönisch, Gerhard; Bradford, Matt G; Cernusak, Lucas A; Cosio, Eric G; Creek, Danielle; Crous, Kristine Y; Domingues, Tomas F; Dukes, Jeffrey S; Egerton, John J G; Evans, John R; Farquhar, Graham D; Fyllas, Nikolaos M; Gauthier, Paul P G; Gloor, Emanuel; Gimeno, Teresa E; Griffin, Kevin L; Guerrieri, Rossella; Heskel, Mary A; Huntingford, Chris; Ishida, Françoise Yoko; Kattge, Jens; Lambers, Hans; Liddell, Michael J; Lloyd, Jon; Lusk, Christopher H; Martin, Roberta E; Maksimov, Ayal P; Maximov, Trofim C; Malhi, Yadvinder; Medlyn, Belinda E; Meir, Patrick; Mercado, Lina M; Mirotchnick, Nicholas; Ng, Desmond; Niinemets, Ülo; O'Sullivan, Odhran S; Phillips, Oliver L; Poorter, Lourens; Poot, Pieter; Prentice, I Colin; Salinas, Norma; Rowland, Lucy M; Ryan, Michael G; Sitch, Stephen; Slot, Martijn; Smith, Nicholas G; Turnbull, Matthew H; VanderWel, Mark C; Valladares, Fernando; Veneklaas, Erik J; Weerasinghe, Lasantha K; Wirth, Christian; Wright, Ian J; Wythers, Kirk R; Xiang, Jen; Xiang, Shuang; Zaragoza-Castells, Joana

    2015-04-01

    Leaf dark respiration (Rdark ) is an important yet poorly quantified component of the global carbon cycle. Given this, we analyzed a new global database of Rdark and associated leaf traits. Data for 899 species were compiled from 100 sites (from the Arctic to the tropics). Several woody and nonwoody plant functional types (PFTs) were represented. Mixed-effects models were used to disentangle sources of variation in Rdark . Area-based Rdark at the prevailing average daily growth temperature (T) of each site increased only twofold from the Arctic to the tropics, despite a 20°C increase in growing T (8-28°C). By contrast, Rdark at a standard T (25°C, Rdark (25) ) was threefold higher in the Arctic than in the tropics, and twofold higher at arid than at mesic sites. Species and PFTs at cold sites exhibited higher Rdark (25) at a given photosynthetic capacity (Vcmax (25) ) or leaf nitrogen concentration ([N]) than species at warmer sites. Rdark (25) values at any given Vcmax (25) or [N] were higher in herbs than in woody plants. The results highlight variation in Rdark among species and across global gradients in T and aridity. In addition to their ecological significance, the results provide a framework for improving representation of Rdark in terrestrial biosphere models (TBMs) and associated land-surface components of Earth system models (ESMs). © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

  14. Elevated CO{sub 2} and development of frost hardiness in Norway spruce (picea abies (L.) Karst.); Oekt CO{sub 2} og utvikling av frostherdighet i gran

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dalen, Lars Sandved

    1998-09-01

    This thesis discusses controlled laboratory experiments carried out to study the effects of CO{sub 2} pollution on Norwegian spruce. It was found that elevated CO{sub 2} increased height growth and biomass production. It slightly increased frost hardiness, but only at high nitrogen values. There was no evidence of adverse effects of elevated CO{sub 2} on the phenology of bud set and the development of frost hardiness. Although not statistically significant, there seemed to be a consistently higher concentration of soluble carbohydrates in one-season-old Norway spruce seedlings treated with elevated CO{sub 2}. This was not found in three-year-old seedlings grown in open top chambers, possibly indicating a down-regulation of photosynthesis or a transition from free to predetermined growth, and change in allocation of photosynthates with age. Treatment with high or low concentrations of CO{sub 2} and nitrogen fertilizer did not affect apoplastic chitinolytic activity during cold acclimation, nor were there any effects on antifreeze activity in these apoplastic extracts from cold acclimated needles. 149 refs., 21 figs., 8 tabs.

  15. A global checklist of the 932 fruit fly species in the tribe Dacini (Diptera, Tephritidae

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camiel Doorenweerd

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The correct application of the scientific names of species is neither easy nor trivial. Mistakes can lead to the wrong interpretation of research results or, when pest species are involved, inappropriate regulations and limits on trade, and possibly quarantine failures that permit the invasion of new pest species. Names are particularly challenging to manage when groups of organisms encompass a large number of species, when different workers employ different philosophical views, or when species are in a state of taxonomic flux. The fruit fly tribe Dacini is a species-rich taxon within Tephritidae and contains around a fifth of all known species in the family. About 10% of the 932 currently recognized species are pests of commercial fruits and vegetables, precipitating quarantines and trade embargos. Authoritative species lists consist largely of scattered regional treatments and outdated online resources. The checklist presented here is the first global overview of valid species names for the Dacini in almost two decades, and includes new lure records. By publishing this list both in paper and digitally, we aim to provide a resource for those studying fruit flies as well as researchers studying components of their impact on agriculture. The list is largely a consolidation of previous works, but following the results from recent phylogenetic work, we transfer one subgenus and eight species to different genera: members of the Bactrocera subgenus Javadacus Hardy, considered to belong to the Zeugodacus group of subgenera, are transferred to genus Zeugodacus; Bactrocera pseudocucurbitae White, 1999, stat. rev., is transferred back to Bactrocera from Zeugodacus; Zeugodacus arisanicus Shiraki, 1933, stat. rev., is transferred back to Zeugodacus from Bactrocera; and Z. brevipunctatus (David & Hancock, 2017, comb. n.; Z. javanensis (Perkins, 1938, comb. n.; Z. montanus (Hardy, 1983, comb. n.; Z. papuaensis (Malloch, 1939, comb. n.; Z. scutellarius (Bezzi

  16. A global checklist of the 932 fruit fly species in the tribe Dacini (Diptera, Tephritidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doorenweerd, Camiel; Leblanc, Luc; Norrbom, Allen L; Jose, Michael San; Rubinoff, Daniel

    2018-01-01

    The correct application of the scientific names of species is neither easy nor trivial. Mistakes can lead to the wrong interpretation of research results or, when pest species are involved, inappropriate regulations and limits on trade, and possibly quarantine failures that permit the invasion of new pest species. Names are particularly challenging to manage when groups of organisms encompass a large number of species, when different workers employ different philosophical views, or when species are in a state of taxonomic flux. The fruit fly tribe Dacini is a species-rich taxon within Tephritidae and contains around a fifth of all known species in the family. About 10% of the 932 currently recognized species are pests of commercial fruits and vegetables, precipitating quarantines and trade embargos. Authoritative species lists consist largely of scattered regional treatments and outdated online resources. The checklist presented here is the first global overview of valid species names for the Dacini in almost two decades, and includes new lure records. By publishing this list both in paper and digitally, we aim to provide a resource for those studying fruit flies as well as researchers studying components of their impact on agriculture. The list is largely a consolidation of previous works, but following the results from recent phylogenetic work, we transfer one subgenus and eight species to different genera: members of the Bactrocera subgenus Javadacus Hardy, considered to belong to the Zeugodacus group of subgenera, are transferred to genus Zeugodacus ; Bactrocera pseudocucurbitae White, 1999, stat. rev. , is transferred back to Bactrocera from Zeugodacus ; Zeugodacus arisanicus Shiraki, 1933, stat. rev. , is transferred back to Zeugodacus from Bactrocera ; and Z. brevipunctatus (David & Hancock, 2017), comb. n. ; Z. javanensis (Perkins, 1938), comb. n. ; Z. montanus (Hardy, 1983), comb. n. ; Z. papuaensis (Malloch, 1939), comb. n. ; Z. scutellarius (Bezzi, 1916

  17. Boosting the globalization of plant proteomics through INPPO: current developments and future prospects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agrawal, Ganesh Kumar; Sarkar, Abhijit; Agrawal, Raj; Ndimba, Bongani Kaiser; Tanou, Georgia; Dunn, Michael J; Kieselbach, Thomas; Cramer, Rainer; Wienkoop, Stefanie; Chen, Sixue; Rafudeen, Mohammed Suhail; Deswal, Renu; Barkla, Bronwyn J; Weckwerth, Wolfram; Heazlewood, Joshua L; Renaut, Jenny; Job, Dominique; Chakraborty, Niranjan; Rakwal, Randeep

    2012-02-01

    The International Plant Proteomics Organization (INPPO) is a non-profit-organization consisting of people who are involved or interested in plant proteomics. INPPO is constantly growing in volume and activity, which is mostly due to the realization among plant proteomics researchers worldwide for the need of such a global platform. Their active participation resulted in the rapid growth within the first year of INPPO's official launch in 2011 via its website (www.inppo.com) and publication of the 'Viewpoint paper' in a special issue of PROTEOMICS (May 2011). Here, we will be highlighting the progress achieved in the year 2011 and the future targets for the year 2012 and onwards. INPPO has achieved a successful administrative structure, the Core Committee (CC; composed of President, Vice-President, and General Secretaries), Executive Council (EC), and General Body (GB) to achieve INPPO objectives. Various committees and subcommittees are in the process of being functionalized via discussion amongst scientists around the globe. INPPO's primary aim to popularize the plant proteomics research in biological sciences has also been recognized by PROTEOMICS where a section dedicated to plant proteomics has been introduced starting January 2012, following the very first issue of this journal devoted to plant proteomics in May 2011. To disseminate organizational activities to the scientific community, INPPO has launched a biannual (in January and July) newsletter entitled 'INPPO Express: News & Views' with the first issue published in January 2012. INPPO is also planning to have several activities in 2012, including programs within the Education Outreach committee in different countries, and the development of research ideas and proposals with priority on crop and horticultural plants, while keeping tight interactions with proteomics programs on model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana, rice, and Medicago truncatula. Altogether, the INPPO progress and upcoming activities

  18. Students' Reading Responses to Tess of the d'Urbervilles, a Novel by Thomas Hardy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yazid Basthomi

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The study explored how students responded to Tess of the d'Urbervilles, a novel by Thomas Hardy. This study was a case study of an in-tact class of Prose I at the English Department, Universitas Negeri Malang. The data were collected from 25 students, and were in the form of students' papers, written in English, which were of the students' personal responses towards the novel. The study found that the students resorted to their re-ligius knowledge (ideology when responding to the characters and subject matter of the novel. Students also developed certain kinds of feeling (emotion as their religious ideology was challenged by that offered by the novel. The study also diclosed that the students' responses fell into the categories of thematic and empathetic. It follows that teachers of Literature need to make attempts to situate the students to arrive at higher level of responses: motivational, predictive, and critical-evaluative.

  19. Functional characterization of the Hyles euphorbiae hawkmoth transcriptome reveals strong expression of phorbol ester detoxification and seasonal cold hardiness genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barth, M Benjamin; Buchwalder, Katja; Kawahara, Akito Y; Zhou, Xin; Liu, Shanlin; Krezdorn, Nicolas; Rotter, Björn; Horres, Ralf; Hundsdoerfer, Anna K

    2018-01-01

    The European spurge hawkmoth, Hyles euphorbiae (Lepidoptera, Sphingidae), has been intensively studied as a model organism for insect chemical ecology, cold hardiness and evolution of species delineation. To understand species isolation mechanisms at a molecular level, this study aims at determining genetic factors underlying two adaptive ecological trait candidates, phorbol ester (TPA) detoxification and seasonal cold acclimation. A draft transcriptome of H. euphorbiae was generated using Illumina sequencing, providing the first genomic resource for the hawkmoth subfamily Macroglossinae. RNA expression levels in tissues of experimental TPA feeding larvae and cooled pupae was compared to levels in control larvae and pupae using 26 bp RNA sequence tag libraries (DeepSuperSAGE). Differential gene expression was assessed by homology searches of the tags in the transcriptome. In total, 389 and 605 differentially expressed transcripts for detoxification and cold hardiness, respectively, could be identified and annotated with proteins. The majority (22 of 28) of differentially expressed detox transcripts of the four 'drug metabolism' enzyme groups (cytochrome P450 (CYP), carboxylesterases (CES), glutathione S-transferases (GST) and lipases) are up-regulated. Triacylglycerol lipase was significantly over proportionally annotated among up-regulated detox transcripts. We record several up-regulated lipases, GSTe2, two CESs, CYP9A21, CYP6BD6 and CYP9A17 as candidate genes for further H. euphorbiae TPA detoxification analyses. Differential gene expression of the cold acclimation treatment is marked by metabolic depression with enriched Gene Ontology terms among down-regulated transcripts almost exclusively comprising metabolism, aerobic respiration and dissimilative functions. Down-regulated transcripts include energy expensive respiratory proteins like NADH dehydrogenase, cytochrome oxidase and ATP synthase. Gene expression patterns show shifts in carbohydrate

  20. Global volatile profile of virgin olive oils flavoured by aromatic/medicinal plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perestrelo, R; Silva, C; Silva, P; Câmara, J S

    2017-07-15

    The global volatile profile of commercial virgin olive oils and flavoured olive oils with aromatic/medicinal plants, was established using liquid-liquid microextraction (LLME) and headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) combined with gas chromatography-quadrupole mass spectrometry (GC-qMS). More than 60 volatile organic compounds (VOCs belonging to different groups were identified using both methods. Olive oils volatile profile was slightly influenced by maceration process, which occurred at room temperature (20±2°C) for 15days. The predominant differences were observed in terpenoids group, since some of them were only identified in the flavoured olive oils, while others showed an increase with the maceration process. VOCs mass transfer from plants to olive oils could explain the observed results. Principal components analysis (PCA) applied to LLME/GC-qMS data allowed to distinguish the olive oils. The flavoured oils would increase the use of olive oil among consumers as consequence of the improvement of its aromatic profile and healthy properties. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Global analysis of seagrass restoration: the importance of large-scale planting

    KAUST Repository

    van Katwijk, Marieke M.; Thorhaug, Anitra; Marbà , Nú ria; Orth, Robert J.; Duarte, Carlos M.; Kendrick, Gary A.; Althuizen, Inge H. J.; Balestri, Elena; Bernard, Guillaume; Cambridge, Marion L.; Cunha, Alexandra; Durance, Cynthia; Giesen, Wim; Han, Qiuying; Hosokawa, Shinya; Kiswara, Wawan; Komatsu, Teruhisa; Lardicci, Claudio; Lee, Kun-Seop; Meinesz, Alexandre; Nakaoka, Masahiro; O'Brien, Katherine R.; Paling, Erik I.; Pickerell, Chris; Ransijn, Aryan M. A.; Verduin, Jennifer J.

    2015-01-01

    In coastal and estuarine systems, foundation species like seagrasses, mangroves, saltmarshes or corals provide important ecosystem services. Seagrasses are globally declining and their reintroduction has been shown to restore ecosystem functions. However, seagrass restoration is often challenging, given the dynamic and stressful environment that seagrasses often grow in. From our world-wide meta-analysis of seagrass restoration trials (1786 trials), we describe general features and best practice for seagrass restoration. We confirm that removal of threats is important prior to replanting. Reduced water quality (mainly eutrophication), and construction activities led to poorer restoration success than, for instance, dredging, local direct impact and natural causes. Proximity to and recovery of donor beds were positively correlated with trial performance. Planting techniques can influence restoration success. The meta-analysis shows that both trial survival and seagrass population growth rate in trials that survived are positively affected by the number of plants or seeds initially transplanted. This relationship between restoration scale and restoration success was not related to trial characteristics of the initial restoration. The majority of the seagrass restoration trials have been very small, which may explain the low overall trial survival rate (i.e. estimated 37%). Successful regrowth of the foundation seagrass species appears to require crossing a minimum threshold of reintroduced individuals. Our study provides the first global field evidence for the requirement of a critical mass for recovery, which may also hold for other foundation species showing strong positive feedback to a dynamic environment. Synthesis and applications. For effective restoration of seagrass foundation species in its typically dynamic, stressful environment, introduction of large numbers is seen to be beneficial and probably serves two purposes. First, a large-scale planting

  2. Global analysis of seagrass restoration: the importance of large-scale planting

    KAUST Repository

    van Katwijk, Marieke M.

    2015-10-28

    In coastal and estuarine systems, foundation species like seagrasses, mangroves, saltmarshes or corals provide important ecosystem services. Seagrasses are globally declining and their reintroduction has been shown to restore ecosystem functions. However, seagrass restoration is often challenging, given the dynamic and stressful environment that seagrasses often grow in. From our world-wide meta-analysis of seagrass restoration trials (1786 trials), we describe general features and best practice for seagrass restoration. We confirm that removal of threats is important prior to replanting. Reduced water quality (mainly eutrophication), and construction activities led to poorer restoration success than, for instance, dredging, local direct impact and natural causes. Proximity to and recovery of donor beds were positively correlated with trial performance. Planting techniques can influence restoration success. The meta-analysis shows that both trial survival and seagrass population growth rate in trials that survived are positively affected by the number of plants or seeds initially transplanted. This relationship between restoration scale and restoration success was not related to trial characteristics of the initial restoration. The majority of the seagrass restoration trials have been very small, which may explain the low overall trial survival rate (i.e. estimated 37%). Successful regrowth of the foundation seagrass species appears to require crossing a minimum threshold of reintroduced individuals. Our study provides the first global field evidence for the requirement of a critical mass for recovery, which may also hold for other foundation species showing strong positive feedback to a dynamic environment. Synthesis and applications. For effective restoration of seagrass foundation species in its typically dynamic, stressful environment, introduction of large numbers is seen to be beneficial and probably serves two purposes. First, a large-scale planting

  3. Accounting for sampling patterns reverses the relative importance of trade and climate for the global sharing of exotic plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sofaer, Helen R.; Jarnevich, Catherine S.

    2017-01-01

    AimThe distributions of exotic species reflect patterns of human-mediated dispersal, species climatic tolerances and a suite of other biotic and abiotic factors. The relative importance of each of these factors will shape how the spread of exotic species is affected by ongoing economic globalization and climate change. However, patterns of trade may be correlated with variation in scientific sampling effort globally, potentially confounding studies that do not account for sampling patterns.LocationGlobal.Time periodMuseum records, generally from the 1800s up to 2015.Major taxa studiedPlant species exotic to the United States.MethodsWe used data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) to summarize the number of plant species with exotic occurrences in the United States that also occur in each other country world-wide. We assessed the relative importance of trade and climatic similarity for explaining variation in the number of shared species while evaluating several methods to account for variation in sampling effort among countries.ResultsAccounting for variation in sampling effort reversed the relative importance of trade and climate for explaining numbers of shared species. Trade was strongly correlated with numbers of shared U.S. exotic plants between the United States and other countries before, but not after, accounting for sampling variation among countries. Conversely, accounting for sampling effort strengthened the relationship between climatic similarity and species sharing. Using the number of records as a measure of sampling effort provided a straightforward approach for the analysis of occurrence data, whereas species richness estimators and rarefaction were less effective at removing sampling bias.Main conclusionsOur work provides support for broad-scale climatic limitation on the distributions of exotic species, illustrates the need to account for variation in sampling effort in large biodiversity databases, and highlights the

  4. Review: Effect of global warming on plant evolution and diversity; lessons from the past and its potential recurrence in the future

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    AHMAD DWI SETYAWAN

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available Setyawan AD. 2009. Effect of global warming on plant evolution and diversity; lessons from the past and its potential recurrence in the future. Nusantara Bioscience 1: 43-52. Lessons from the past shows that global warming and glaciation is a natural cycle of repeated, the trigger factor is not always the same, but global warming is always accompanied by elevated levels of CO2 and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which cause the other rising global temperatures. Present and destruction of various plants and other living makhluh continue to happen from time to time. Every era has its own life form, as a mirror of global environmental conditions at the time. Biodiversity is not always the same between one period of global warming are with the next global warming, or one period of glaciation that one with the next glaciation, although new breeds always show traces the evolution of his ancestors. Man is one of the agents of global warming that began with the development of agricultural systems since 8000 years ago. The impact of climate change due to global warming should continue to be wary of. Based on past experience, global warming is always followed by mass extinctions, but various forms of life will still survive even though its shape is almost certainly not the same as before. Living organisms can survive it will evolve into new taxa that are different from its parental taxa. Humans who were present at that time probably were not a men who are present at this time, given Homo sapiens may have been extinct for not being able to adapt or otherwise has evolved into a new man who may no longer shows characteristics of human wisdom.

  5. A mechanistic, globally-applicable model of plant nitrogen uptake, retranslocation and fixation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisher, J. B.; Tan, S.; Malhi, Y.; Fisher, R. A.; Sitch, S.; Huntingford, C.

    2008-12-01

    Nitrogen is one of the nutrients that can most limit plant growth, and nitrogen availability may be a controlling factor on biosphere responses to climate change. We developed a plant nitrogen assimilation model based on a) advective transport through the transpiration stream, b) retranslocation whereby carbon is expended to resorb nitrogen from leaves, c) active uptake whereby carbon is expended to acquire soil nitrogen, and d) biological nitrogen fixation whereby carbon is expended for symbiotic nitrogen fixers. The model relies on 9 inputs: 1) net primary productivity (NPP), 2) plant C:N ratio, 3) available soil nitrogen, 4) root biomass, 5) transpiration rate, 6) saturated soil depth,7) leaf nitrogen before senescence, 8) soil temperature, and 9) ability to fix nitrogen. A carbon cost of retranslocation is estimated based on leaf nitrogen and compared to an active uptake carbon cost based on root biomass and available soil nitrogen; for nitrogen fixers both costs are compared to a carbon cost of fixation dependent on soil temperature. The NPP is then allocated to optimize growth while maintaining the C:N ratio. The model outputs are total plant nitrogen uptake, remaining NPP available for growth, carbon respired to the soil and updated available soil nitrogen content. We test and validate the model (called FUN: Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen) against data from the UK, Germany and Peru, and run the model under simplified scenarios of primary succession and climate change. FUN is suitable for incorporation into a land surface scheme of a General Circulation Model and will be coupled with a soil model and dynamic global vegetation model as part of a land surface model (JULES).

  6. Globalization and Productivity

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hayakawa, Kazunobu; Machikita, Tomohiro

    2012-01-01

    Recent empirical studies which utilize plant- or establishment-level data to examine globalization's impact on productivity have discovered many causal mechanisms involved in globalization's impact on firms’ productivity. Because these pathways have been broad, there have been few attempts...

  7. Early Scholars' Visits to Central America: Reports by Karl Sapper, Walter Lehmann, and Franz Termer, edited by Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett and Ellen T Hardy, Theodore E Gutman, 2000

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles C. Kolb

    2001-05-01

    Full Text Available The Cotsen Institute's Director of Publications is archaeologist Marilyn Beaudry-Corbett, herself a specialist on the production and distribution of archaeological ceramics in Mesoamerica and Central America and a scholar of complex society economic organization. Her colleague and the co-editor of this volume, Ellen Hardy, is a Research Associate at The Cotsen Institute and an expert on mortuary customs of the Nicoya region. Theodore (Ted Gutman (1909-1997 was a longtime supporter of the Institute at UCLA worked on a number of translation projects, several of which are presented here. He was the translator of Karl Sapper's Verapaz im 16. und 17. jahrhundert, which appeared as The Verapaz in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: A Contribution to the Historical Geography and Ethnography of Northeastern Guatemala (Los Angeles, University of California, Institute of Archae­ology, Occasional Paper 13, 1985. The contributors to the volume's narrative include, in addtion to Beaudry-Corbett and Hardy, nine other anthropologists who are recognized experts on the region and subject matter.

  8. The global warming problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1990-01-01

    In this chapter, a discussion is presented of the global warming problem and activities contributing to the formation of acid rain, urban smog and to the depletion of the ozone layer. Globally, about two-thirds of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions arise from fossil-fuel burning; the rest arise primarily from deforestation. Chlorofluorocarbons are the second largest contributor to global warming, accounting for about 20% of the total. The third largest contributor is methane, followed by ozone and nitrous oxide. A study of current activities in the US that contribute to global warming shows the following: electric power plants account for about 33% of carbon dioxide emissions; motor vehicles, planes and ships (31%); industrial plants (24%); commercial and residential buildings (11%)

  9. Global SUMO proteome responses guide gene regulation, mRNA biogenesis, and plant stress responses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magdalena eMazur

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Small-ubiquitin-like MOdifier (SUMO is a key regulator of abiotic stress, disease resistance and development in plants. The identification of >350 plant SUMO targets has revealed many processes modulated by SUMO and potential consequences of SUMO on its targets. Importantly, highly related proteins are SUMO-modified in plants, yeast, and metazoans. Overlapping SUMO targets include heat-shock proteins, transcription regulators, histones, histone-modifying enzymes, proteins involved in DNA damage repair, but also proteins involved in mRNA biogenesis and nucleo-cytoplasmic transport. Proteomics studies indicate key roles for SUMO in gene repression by controlling histone (deacetylation activity at genomic loci. The responsible heavily sumoylated transcriptional repressor complexes are recruited by EAR (Ethylene-responsive element binding factor [ERF]-associated Amphiphilic Repression-motif containing transcription factors in plants. These transcription factors are not necessarily themselves a SUMO target. Conversely, SUMO acetylation prevents binding of downstream partners by preventing binding of SIMs (SUMO-interaction peptide motifs presents in these partners, while SUMO acetylation has emerged as mechanism to recruit specifically bromodomains; bromodomain are generally linked with gene activation. These findings strengthen the idea of a bidirectional sumo-/acetylation switch in gene regulation. Quantitative proteomics has highlighted that global sumoylation provides a dynamic response to protein damage involving SUMO chain-mediated protein degradation, but also SUMO E3 ligase-dependent transcription of HSP (Heat-shock protein genes. With these insights in SUMO function and novel technical advancements, we can now study SUMO dynamics in responses to (abiotic stress in plants.

  10. A unified view on Hardyʼs paradox and the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt inequality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mančinska, L.; Wehner, S.

    2014-10-01

    Bell's inequality fundamentally changed our understanding of quantum mechanics. Bell's insight that non-local correlations between quantum systems cannot be explained classically can be verified experimentally, and has numerous applications in modern quantum information. Today, the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) inequality is probably the most well-known Bell inequality and it has given us a wealth of understanding in what differentiates the classical from the quantum world. Yet, there are certainly other means of quantifying ‘Bell non-locality without inequalities’ such as the famous Hardy's paradox. As such, one may wonder whether these are entirely different approaches to non-locality. For this anniversary issue, we unify the perspective of the CHSH inequality and Hardy’s paradox into one family of non-local games which include both as special cases. This article is part of a special issue of Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical devoted to ‘50 years of Bell’s theorem’.

  11. Approximation in generalized Hardy classes and resolution of inverse problems for tokamaks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fisher, Y.

    2011-11-01

    This thesis concerns both the theoretical and constructive resolution of inverse problems for isotropic diffusion equation in planar domains, simply and doubly connected. From partial Cauchy boundary data (potential, flux), we look for those quantities on the remaining part of the boundary, where no information is available, as well as inside the domain. The proposed approach proceeds by considering solutions to the diffusion equation as real parts of complex valued solutions to some conjugated Beltrami equation. These particular generalized analytic functions allow to introduce Hardy classes, where the inverse problem is stated as a best constrained approximation issue (bounded extrema problem), and thereby is regularized. Hence, existence and smoothness properties, together with density results of traces on the boundary, ensure well-posedness. An application is studied, to a free boundary problem for a magnetically confined plasma in the tokamak Tore Supra (CEA Cadarache France). The resolution of the approximation problem on a suitable basis of functions (toroidal harmonics) leads to a qualification criterion for the estimated plasma boundary. A descent algorithm makes it decrease, and refines the estimations. The method does not require any integration of the solution in the overall domain. It furnishes very accurate numerical results, and could be extended to other devices, like JET or ITER. (author)

  12. Forest Distribution on Small Isolated Hills and Implications on Woody Plant Distribution under Threats of Global Warming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chi-Cheng Liao

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Treelines have been found to be lower in small isolated hilltops, but the specific dynamics behind this unique phenomenon are unknown. This study investigates the distribution patterns of woody plants in Yangmingshan National Park (YMSNP, Northern Taiwan in search of the limitation mechanisms unique to small isolated hills, and to evaluate potential threats under global warming. Forests distributed between 200 to 900 m above sea level (ASL. Remnant forest fragments between 400 and 900 m ASL, have the highest species richness, and should be protected to ensure future forest recovery from the former extensive artificial disturbance. The lower boundary is threatened by urban and agricultural development. The lack of native woody species in these low elevation zones may cause a gap susceptible to invasive species. A consistent forest line at 100 m below mountain tops regardless of elevation suggests a topography-induced instead of an elevation-related limiting mechanism. Therefore, upward-shift of forests, caused by global warming, might be limited at 100 m below hilltops in small isolated hills because of topography-related factors. The spatial range of woody plants along the altitudinal gradient, thus, is likely to become narrower under the combined pressures of global warming, limited elevation, exposure-related stress, and artificial disturbance. Management priorities for forest recovery are suggested to include preservation of remnant forest fragments, increasing forest connectivity, and increasing seedling establishment in the grasslands.

  13. Next biotech plants: new traits, crops, developers and technologies for addressing global challenges.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ricroch, Agnès E; Hénard-Damave, Marie-Cécile

    2016-08-01

    Most of the genetically modified (GM) plants currently commercialized encompass a handful of crop species (soybean, corn, cotton and canola) with agronomic characters (traits) directed against some biotic stresses (pest resistance, herbicide tolerance or both) and created by multinational companies. The same crops with agronomic traits already on the market today will continue to be commercialized, but there will be also a wider range of species with combined traits. The timeframe anticipated for market release of the next biotech plants will not only depend on science progress in research and development (R&D) in laboratories and fields, but also primarily on how demanding regulatory requirements are in countries where marketing approvals are pending. Regulatory constraints, including environmental and health impact assessments, have increased significantly in the past decades, delaying approvals and increasing their costs. This has sometimes discouraged public research entities and small and medium size plant breeding companies from using biotechnology and given preference to other technologies, not as stringently regulated. Nevertheless, R&D programs are flourishing in developing countries, boosted by the necessity to meet the global challenges that are food security of a booming world population while mitigating climate change impacts. Biotechnology is an instrument at the service of these imperatives and a wide variety of plants are currently tested for their high yield despite biotic and abiotic stresses. Many plants with higher water or nitrogen use efficiency, tolerant to cold, salinity or water submergence are being developed. Food security is not only a question of quantity but also of quality of agricultural and food products, to be available and accessible for the ones who need it the most. Many biotech plants (especially staple food) are therefore being developed with nutritional traits, such as biofortification in vitamins and metals. The main

  14. Breeding of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis for garden use in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuligowska, Katarzyna; Simonsen, Maria Boye; Lütken, Henrik Vlk

    2013-01-01

    -sinensis for increased chilling tolerance by conventional breeding is unlikely because there is a lack of genetic information in relation to this trait within this species. In the Hibiscus genus, cold hardiness is available, but only in a few species. Attempts to create cold tolerant Hibiscus plants resembling H. rosa......Hibiscus rosa-sinensis is an ornamental shrub in tropical and subtropical regions. Limitation of its use as an outdoor ornamental plant in a temperate climate is due to chilling sensitivity. Cold hardiness is a highly complex trait, involving multiple genes. Improvement of H. rosa......-sinensis suitable for Nordic climate have not been successful so far. In ornamental breeding wide hybridization is a major source of genetic variation, and can also be a promising approach to introgress cold hardiness in H. rosa-sinensis. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the possibilities...

  15. Tree die-off in response to global change-type drought: Mortality insights from a decade of plant water potential measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breshears, D.D.; Myers, O.B.; Meyer, Clifton W.; Barnes, F.J.; Zou, C.B.; Allen, Craig D.; McDowell, N.G.; Pockman, W. T.

    2009-01-01

    Global climate change is projected to produce warmer, longer, and more frequent droughts, referred to here as “global change-type droughts”, which have the potential to trigger widespread tree die-off. However, drought-induced tree mortality cannot be predicted with confidence, because long-term field observations of plant water stress prior to, and culminating in, mortality are rare, precluding the development and testing of mechanisms. Here, we document plant water stress in two widely distributed, co-occurring species, piñon pine (Pinus edulis) and juniper (Juniperus monosperma), over more than a decade, leading up to regional-scale die-off of piñon pine trees in response to global change-related drought. Piñon leaf water potentials remained substantially below their zero carbon assimilation point for at least 10 months prior to dying, in contrast to those of juniper, which rarely dropped below their zero-assimilation point. These data suggest that piñon mortality was driven by protracted water stress, leading to carbon starvation and associated increases in susceptibility to other disturbances (eg bark beetles), a finding that should help to improve predictions of mortality during drought.

  16. Evolution and challenges of dynamic global vegetation models for some aspects of plant physiology and elevated atmospheric CO2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rezende, L F C; Arenque, B C; Aidar, S T; Moura, M S B; Von Randow, C; Tourigny, E; Menezes, R S C; Ometto, J P H B

    2016-07-01

    Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) simulate surface processes such as the transfer of energy, water, CO2, and momentum between the terrestrial surface and the atmosphere, biogeochemical cycles, carbon assimilation by vegetation, phenology, and land use change in scenarios of varying atmospheric CO2 concentrations. DGVMs increase the complexity and the Earth system representation when they are coupled with atmospheric global circulation models (AGCMs) or climate models. However, plant physiological processes are still a major source of uncertainty in DGVMs. The maximum velocity of carboxylation (Vcmax), for example, has a direct impact over productivity in the models. This parameter is often underestimated or imprecisely defined for the various plant functional types (PFTs) and ecosystems. Vcmax is directly related to photosynthesis acclimation (loss of response to elevated CO2), a widely known phenomenon that usually occurs when plants are subjected to elevated atmospheric CO2 and might affect productivity estimation in DGVMs. Despite this, current models have improved substantially, compared to earlier models which had a rudimentary and very simple representation of vegetation-atmosphere interactions. In this paper, we describe this evolution through generations of models and the main events that contributed to their improvements until the current state-of-the-art class of models. Also, we describe some main challenges for further improvements to DGVMs.

  17. Assessing parameter variability in a photosynthesis model within and between plant functional types using global Fluxnet eddy covariance data

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Groenendijk, M.; Dolman, A.J.; Molen, van der M.K.; Leuning, R.; Arneth, A.; Delpierre, N.; Gash, J.H.C.; Lindroth, A.; Richardson, A.D.; Verbeeck, H.; Wohlfahrt, G.

    2011-01-01

    The vegetation component in climate models has advanced since the late 1960s from a uniform prescription of surface parameters to plant functional types (PFTs). PFTs are used in global land-surface models to provide parameter values for every model grid cell. With a simple photosynthesis model we

  18. Invasive Plants on Rangelands: a Global Threat

    Science.gov (United States)

    Invasive plant species are spreading and invading rangelands at an unprecedented rate costing ranchers billions of dollars to control invasive plants each year. In its simplest form, the invasion process has four primary stages, including introduction, establishment, spread and colonization. Th...

  19. Root Systems of Individual Plants, and the Biotic and Abiotic Factors Controlling Their Depth and Distribution: a Synthesis Using a Global Database.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tumber-Davila, S. J.; Schenk, H. J.; Jackson, R. B.

    2017-12-01

    This synthesis examines plant rooting distributions globally, by doubling the number of entries in the Root Systems of Individual Plants database (RSIP) created by Schenk and Jackson. Root systems influence many processes, including water and nutrient uptake and soil carbon storage. Root systems also mediate vegetation responses to changing climatic and environmental conditions. Therefore, a collective understanding of the importance of rooting systems to carbon sequestration, soil characteristics, hydrology, and climate, is needed. Current global models are limited by a poor understanding of the mechanisms affecting rooting, carbon stocks, and belowground biomass. This improved database contains an extensive bank of records describing the rooting system of individual plants, as well as detailed information on the climate and environment from which the observations are made. The expanded RSIP database will: 1) increase our understanding of rooting depths, lateral root spreads and above and belowground allometry; 2) improve the representation of plant rooting systems in Earth System Models; 3) enable studies of how climate change will alter and interact with plant species and functional groups in the future. We further focus on how plant rooting behavior responds to variations in climate and the environment, and create a model that can predict rooting behavior given a set of environmental conditions. Preliminary results suggest that high potential evapotranspiration and seasonality of precipitation are indicative of deeper rooting after accounting for plant growth form. When mapping predicted deep rooting by climate, we predict deepest rooting to occur in equatorial South America, Africa, and central India.

  20. Enhancement of the REMix energy system model. Global renewable energy potentials, optimized power plant siting and scenario validation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stetter, Daniel

    2014-04-10

    As electricity generation based on volatile renewable resources is subject to fluctuations, data with high temporal and spatial resolution on their availability is indispensable for integrating large shares of renewable capacities into energy infrastructures. The scope of the present doctoral thesis is to enhance the existing energy modelling environment REMix in terms of (i.) extending the geographic coverage of the potential assessment tool REMix-EnDaT from a European to a global scale, (ii.) adding a new plant siting optimization module REMix-PlaSMo, capable of assessing siting effects of renewable power plants on the portfolio output and (iii.) adding a new alternating current power transmission model between 30 European countries and CSP electricity imports from power plants located in North Africa and the Middle East via high voltage direct current links into the module REMix-OptiMo. With respect to the global potential assessment tool, a thorough investigation is carried out creating an hourly global inventory of the theoretical potentials of the major renewable resources solar irradiance, wind speed and river discharge at a spatial resolution of 0.45°x0.45°. A detailed global land use analysis determines eligible sites for the installation of renewable power plants. Detailed power plant models for PV, CSP, wind and hydro power allow for the assessment of power output, cost per kWh and respective full load hours taking into account the theoretical potentials, technological as well as economic data. The so-obtined tool REMix-EnDaT can be used as follows: First, as an assessment tool for arbitrary geographic locations, countries or world regions, deriving either site-specific or aggregated installable capacities, cost as well as full load hour potentials. Second, as a tool providing input data such as installable capacities and hourly renewable electricity generation for further assessments using the modules REMix-PlasMo and OptiMo. The plant siting tool

  1. Enhancement of the REMix energy system model. Global renewable energy potentials, optimized power plant siting and scenario validation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stetter, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    As electricity generation based on volatile renewable resources is subject to fluctuations, data with high temporal and spatial resolution on their availability is indispensable for integrating large shares of renewable capacities into energy infrastructures. The scope of the present doctoral thesis is to enhance the existing energy modelling environment REMix in terms of (i.) extending the geographic coverage of the potential assessment tool REMix-EnDaT from a European to a global scale, (ii.) adding a new plant siting optimization module REMix-PlaSMo, capable of assessing siting effects of renewable power plants on the portfolio output and (iii.) adding a new alternating current power transmission model between 30 European countries and CSP electricity imports from power plants located in North Africa and the Middle East via high voltage direct current links into the module REMix-OptiMo. With respect to the global potential assessment tool, a thorough investigation is carried out creating an hourly global inventory of the theoretical potentials of the major renewable resources solar irradiance, wind speed and river discharge at a spatial resolution of 0.45°x0.45°. A detailed global land use analysis determines eligible sites for the installation of renewable power plants. Detailed power plant models for PV, CSP, wind and hydro power allow for the assessment of power output, cost per kWh and respective full load hours taking into account the theoretical potentials, technological as well as economic data. The so-obtined tool REMix-EnDaT can be used as follows: First, as an assessment tool for arbitrary geographic locations, countries or world regions, deriving either site-specific or aggregated installable capacities, cost as well as full load hour potentials. Second, as a tool providing input data such as installable capacities and hourly renewable electricity generation for further assessments using the modules REMix-PlasMo and OptiMo. The plant siting tool

  2. A global phylogeny of leafmining Ectoedemia moths (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae): exploring host plant family shifts and allopatry as drivers of speciation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doorenweerd, Camiel; van Nieukerken, Erik J; Menken, Steph B J

    2015-01-01

    Host association patterns in Ectoedemia (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) are also encountered in other insect groups with intimate plant relationships, including a high degree of monophagy, a preference for ecologically dominant plant families (e.g. Fagaceae, Rosaceae, Salicaceae, and Betulaceae) and a tendency for related insect species to feed on related host plant species. The evolutionary processes underlying these patterns are only partly understood, we therefore assessed the role of allopatry and host plant family shifts in speciation within Ectoedemia. Six nuclear and mitochondrial DNA markers with a total aligned length of 3692 base pairs were used to infer phylogenetic relationships among 92 species belonging to the subgenus Ectoedemia of the genus Ectoedemia, representing a thorough taxon sampling with a global coverage. The results support monophyletic species groups that are congruent with published findings based on morphology. We used the obtained phylogeny to explore host plant family association and geographical distribution to investigate if host shifts and allopatry have been instrumental in the speciation of these leafmining insects. We found that, even though most species within species groups commonly feed on plants from one family, shifts to a distantly related host family have occasionally occurred throughout the phylogeny and such shifts are most commonly observed towards Betulaceae. The largest radiations have occurred within species groups that feed on Fagaceae, Rosaceae, and Salicaceae. Most species are restricted to one of the seven global biogeographic regions, but within species groups representatives are commonly found in different biogeographic regions. Although we find general patterns with regard to host use and biogeography, there are differences between clades that suggest that different drivers of speciation, and perhaps drivers that we did not examine, have shaped diversity patterns in different clades.

  3. Frost hardiness of mycorrhizal (Hebeloma sp.) and non-mycorrhizal Scots pine roots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korhonen, Anna; Lehto, Tarja; Repo, Tapani

    2013-10-01

    The frost hardiness (FH) of mycorrhizal [ectomycorrhizal (ECM)] and non-mycorrhizal (NM) Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) seedlings was studied to assess whether mycorrhizal symbiosis affected the roots' tolerance of below-zero temperatures. ECM (Hebeloma sp.) and NM seedlings were cultivated in a growth chamber for 18 weeks. After 13 weeks' growth in long-day and high-temperature (LDHT) conditions, a half of the ECM and NM seedlings were moved into a chamber with short-day and low-temperature (SDLT) conditions to cold acclimate. After exposures to a range of below-zero temperatures, the FH of the roots was assessed by means of the relative electrolyte leakage test. The FH was determined as the inflection point of the temperature-response curve. No significant difference was found between the FH of mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots in LDHT (-8.9 and -9.8 °C) or SDLT (-7.5 and -6.8 °C). The mycorrhizal treatment had no significant effect on the total dry mass, the allocation of dry mass among the roots and needles or nutrient accumulation. The mycorrhizal treatment with Hebeloma sp. did not affect the FH of Scots pine in this experimental setup. More information is needed on the extent to which mycorrhizas tolerate low temperatures, especially with different nutrient contents and different mycorrhiza fungi.

  4. Global risk from the atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides by nuclear power plant accidents in the coming decades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Christoudias, T.; Proestos, Y. [The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia (Cyprus); Lelieveld, J. [The Cyprus Institute, Nicosia (Cyprus); Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (Germany)

    2014-07-01

    We estimate the global risk from the release and atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides from nuclear power plant accidents using the EMAC atmospheric chemistry-general circulation model. We included all nuclear reactors that are currently operational, under construction and planned or proposed. We implemented constant continuous emissions from each location in the model and simulated atmospheric transport and removal via dry and wet deposition processes over 20 years (2010-2030), driven by boundary conditions based on the IPCC A2 future emissions scenario. We present global overall and seasonal risk maps for potential surface layer concentrations and ground deposition of radionuclides, and estimate potential doses to humans from inhalation and ground-deposition exposures to radionuclides. We find that the risk of harmful doses due to inhalation is typically highest in the Northern Hemisphere during boreal winter, due to relatively shallow boundary layer development and limited mixing. Based on the continued operation of the current nuclear power plants, we calculate that the risk of radioactive contamination to the citizens of the USA will remain to be highest worldwide, followed by India and France. By including stations under construction and those that are planned and proposed, our results suggest that the risk will become highest in China, followed by India and the USA.

  5. Upgrading to lead firm position via international acquisition: learning from the global biomass power plant industry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hansen, Ulrich Elmer; Fold, Niels; Hansen, Teis

    2016-01-01

    This article examines the case of a Chinese firm that has upgraded to lead firm position in the global biomass power plant industry mainly through acquisitions of technological frontier firms in Denmark. Sustaining the lead firm position was, however, challenged by difficulties in developing...... innovative capability. Drawing on the literature on (i) firm-level technological capability and (ii) knowledge transfer in international acquisitions, we explain the reasons for insufficient innovative capability building. Based on these empirical findings, we suggest maintaining the existing upgrading...

  6. Serendipity: Global Detection and Quantification of Plant Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schimel, D.; Verma, M.; Drewry, D.

    2016-12-01

    Detecting and quantifying plant stress is a grand challenge for remote sensing, and is important for understanding climate impacts on ecosystems broadly and also for early warning systems supporting food security. The long record from moderate resolution sensors providing frequent data has allowed using phenology to detect stress in forest and agroecosystems, but can fail or give ambiguous results when stress occurs during later phases of growth and in high leaf area systems. The recent recognition that greenhouse gas satellites such as GOSAT and OCO-2 observe Solar-Induced Fluorescence has added a new and complementary tool for the quantification of stress but algorithms to detect and quantify stress using SIF are in their infancy. Here we report new results showing a more complex response of SIF to stress by evaluating spaceborne SIF against in situ eddy covariance data. The response observed is as predicted by theory, and shows that SIF, used in conjunction with moderate resolution remote sensing, can detect and likely quantify stress by indexing the nonlinear part of the SIF-GPP relationship using the photochemical reflectance index and remotely observed light absorption. There are several exciting opportunities on the near horizon for the implementation of SIF, together with syngeristic measurements such as PRI and evapotranspiration that suggest the next few years will be a golden age for global ecology. Adancing the science and associated algorithms now is essential to fully exploiting the next wave of missions.

  7. Alien plant invasions and native plant extinctions: a six-threshold framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downey, Paul O.; Richardson, David M.

    2016-01-01

    Biological invasions are widely acknowledged as a major threat to global biodiversity. Species from all major taxonomic groups have become invasive. The range of impacts of invasive taxa and the overall magnitude of the threat is increasing. Plants comprise the biggest and best-studied group of invasive species. There is a growing debate; however, regarding the nature of the alien plant threat—in particular whether the outcome is likely to be the widespread extinction of native plant species. The debate has raised questions on whether the threat posed by invasive plants to native plants has been overstated. We provide a conceptual framework to guide discussion on this topic, in which the threat posed by invasive plants is considered in the context of a progression from no impact through to extinction. We define six thresholds along the ‘extinction trajectory’, global extinction being the final threshold. Although there are no documented examples of either ‘in the wild’ (Threshold 5) or global extinctions (Threshold 6) of native plants that are attributable solely to plant invasions, there is evidence that native plants have crossed or breached other thresholds along the extinction trajectory due to the impacts associated with plant invasions. Several factors may be masking where native species are on the trajectory; these include a lack of appropriate data to accurately map the position of species on the trajectory, the timeframe required to definitively state that extinctions have occurred and management interventions. Such interventions, focussing mainly on Thresholds 1–3 (a declining population through to the local extinction of a population), are likely to alter the extinction trajectory of some species. The critical issue for conservation managers is the trend, because interventions must be implemented before extinctions occur. Thus the lack of evidence for extinctions attributable to plant invasions does not mean we should disregard the broader

  8. A small diffusible signal molecule is responsible for the global control of virulence and exoenzyme production in the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora.

    OpenAIRE

    Pirhonen, M; Flego, D; Heikinheimo, R; Palva, E T

    1993-01-01

    Virulence of the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora is dependent on the production and secretion of a complex arsenal of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes. Production of these exoenzymes is controlled by a global regulatory mechanism. A virulent mutants in one of the regulatory loci, expI, show a pleiotropic defect in the growth phase-dependent transcriptional activation of exoenzyme gene expression. The expI gene encodes a 26 kDa polypeptide that is structurally and function...

  9. Population genetic analysis of the GlobalFiler STR loci in 748 individuals from the Kazakh population of Xinjiang in northwest China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Honghua; Yang, Shuping; Guo, Wei; Ren, Bo; Pu, Liwen; Ma, Teng; Xia, Mingying; Jin, Li; Li, Liming; Li, Shilin

    2016-09-01

    The six-dye GlobalFiler™ Express PCR amplification kit incorporates 21 commonly used autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci and three gender determination loci. In this study, we analyzed the GlobalFiler STR loci on 748 unrelated individuals from a Chinese Kazakh population of Xinjiang, China. No significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium were observed within and between 21 autosomal STR loci. SE33 showed the greatest power of discrimination in Kazakh population. The combined power of discrimination of Kazakh was 99.999999999999999999999996797 %. No significant differences of allele frequencies were observed between Kazakh and Uyghur at all 15 tested STR loci, as well as Mongolian. Significant differences were only observed between Kazakh and the other Chinese populations at TH01. Multiple STR loci showed significant differences between Kazakh and Arab, as well as South Portuguese. The multidimensional scaling plot (MDS) plot and neighbor-joining tree also showed Kazakh is genetically close to Uyghur.

  10. Global sensitivity analysis of a phenomenological wastewater treatment plant influent generator. 8th IWA Symposium on Systems Analysis and Integrated Assessment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Flores-Alsina, Xavier; Gernaey, Krist; Jeppsson, Ulf

    2011-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to present the results of a global sensitivity analysis (GSA) of a phenomenological model that generates wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) dynamic influent disturbance scenarios. This influent model is part of the Benchmark Simulation Model no 2 (BSM2) and creates r...

  11. Global engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Plass, L.

    2001-01-01

    This article considers the challenges posed by the declining orders in the plant engineering and contracting business in Germany, the need to remain competitive, and essential preconditions for mastering the challenge. The change in engineering approach is illustrated by the building of a methanol plant in Argentina by Lurgi with the basic engineering completed in Frankfurt with involvement of key personnel from Poland, completely engineered subsystems from a Brazilian subsupplier, and detailed engineering work in Frankfurt. The production of methanol from natural gas using the LurgiMega/Methanol process is used as a typical example of the industrial plant construction sector. The prerequisites for successful global engineering are listed, and error costs in plant construction, possible savings, and process intensification are discussed

  12. Towards clarification of convergent concepts: sense of coherence, will to meaning, locus of control, learned helplessness and hardiness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, G C

    1993-11-01

    The multidisciplinary field of stress and stress-related health outcomes has generated theoretical and practical knowledge which is of interest to nurses. Theoretical developments which have assumed a prominent role in the study of stress, health and coping include the identification of various 'stress buffers' several of which bear a strong conceptual resemblance to one another. Antonovsky has developed a Salutogenic Model of stress and resistance, which is presented in this paper. The model's central concept, the sense of coherence, is described and analysed. The sense of coherence, with its three components (meaningfulness, comprehensibility and manageability), is then compared and contrasted with similar concepts. The convergent theoretical notions which are distinguished from Antonovsky's coherence are: will to meaning, locus of control, learned helplessness and hardiness. It is hoped that this analysis will provide greater conceptual clarity for nurses who study and use these concepts in education, practice or research.

  13. Population data and phylogenetic structure of Han population from Jiangsu province of China on GlobalFiler STR loci.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adnan, Atif; Zhan, Xiaoni; Kasim, Kadirya; Rakha, Allah; Xin, Xing Jia

    2018-03-02

    Forensic statistical parameters based on allelic frequencies of commonly used short tandem repeats were estimated for the Han population of Jiangsu province from P.R. China. The 6-dye GlobalFiler™ PCR amplification kit incorporates 21 autosomal STRs, providing reliable DNA typing results with enhanced the power of discrimination. Here, we analyzed the GlobalFiler™ STR loci in 516 unrelated individuals from Jiangsu Han population. A total of 256 alleles were observed ranging between 5 and 35.2 repeat units, and SE33 showed the greatest power of discrimination (34 alleles) in Jiangsu Han population. Most of the loci were found to be in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium after the Bonferroni correction with the exception of D3S1358. The combined power of exclusion (CPE) was 0.999999996353609, and the combined match probability (CMP) was 3.64 × 10 -25 . Phylogenetic parameters including pairwise genetic distances showed that Han population living in Jiangsu had closest genetic relationship with other East Asian populations. The present study provides precise reference database for forensic applications and population genetic studies.

  14. Surface reflectance and conversion efficiency dependence of technologies for mitigating global warming

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edmonds, Ian [Solartran Pty Ltd., 12 Lentara St, Kenmore, Brisbane 4069 (Australia); Smith, Geoff [Physics and Advanced Materials, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007 (Australia)

    2011-05-15

    A means of assessing the relative impact of different renewable energy technologies on global warming has been developed. All power plants emit thermal energy to the atmosphere. Fossil fuel power plants also emit CO{sub 2} which accumulates in the atmosphere and provides an indirect increase in global warming via the greenhouse effect. A fossil fuel power plant may operate for some time before the global warming due to its CO{sub 2} emission exceeds the warming due to its direct heat emission. When a renewable energy power plant is deployed instead of a fossil fuel power plant there may be a significant time delay before the direct global warming effect is less than the combined direct and indirect global warming effect from an equivalent output coal fired plant - the ''business as usual'' case. Simple expressions are derived to calculate global temperature change as a function of ground reflectance and conversion efficiency for various types of fossil fuelled and renewable energy power plants. These expressions are used to assess the global warming mitigation potential of some proposed Australian renewable energy projects. The application of the expressions is extended to evaluate the deployment in Australia of current and new geo-engineering and carbon sequestration solutions to mitigate global warming. Principal findings are that warming mitigation depends strongly on the solar to electric conversion efficiency of renewable technologies, geo-engineering projects may offer more economic mitigation than renewable energy projects and the mitigation potential of reforestation projects depends strongly on the location of the projects. (author)

  15. Destabilization of Titania Nanosheet Suspensions by Inorganic Salts: Hofmeister Series and Schulze-Hardy Rule.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rouster, Paul; Pavlovic, Marko; Szilagyi, Istvan

    2017-07-13

    Ion specific effects on colloidal stability of titania nanosheets (TNS) were investigated in aqueous suspensions. The charge of the particles was varied by the pH of the solutions, therefore, the influence of mono- and multivalent anions on the charging and aggregation behavior could be studied when they were present either as counter or co-ions in the systems. The aggregation processes in the presence of inorganic salts were mainly driven by interparticle forces of electrostatic origin, however, chemical interactions between more complex ions and the surface led to additional attractive forces. The adsorption of anions significantly changed the surface charge properties and hence, the resistance of the TNS against salt-induced aggregation. On the basis of their ability in destabilization of the dispersions, the monovalent ions could be ordered according to the Hofmeister series in acidic solutions, where they act as counterions. However, the behavior of the biphosphate anion was atypical and its adsorption induced charge reversal of the particles. The multivalent anions destabilized the oppositely charged TNS more effectively and the aggregation processes followed the Schulze-Hardy rule. Only weak or negligible interactions were observed between the anions and the particles in alkaline suspensions, where the TNS possessed negative charge.

  16. Economics of hybrid photovoltaic power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Breyer, Christian

    2012-08-16

    The global power supply stability is faced to several severe and fundamental threats, in particular steadily increasing power demand, diminishing and degrading fossil and nuclear energy resources, very harmful greenhouse gas emissions, significant energy injustice and a structurally misbalanced ecological footprint. Photovoltaic (PV) power systems are analysed in various aspects focusing on economic and technical considerations of supplemental and substitutional power supply to the constraint conventional power system. To infer the most relevant system approach for PV power plants several solar resources available for PV systems are compared. By combining the different solar resources and respective economics, two major PV systems are identified to be very competitive in almost all regions in the world. The experience curve concept is used as a key technique for the development of scenario assumptions on economic projections for the decade of the 2010s. Main drivers for cost reductions in PV systems are learning and production growth rate, thus several relevant aspects are discussed such as research and development investments, technical PV market potential, different PV technologies and the energetic sustainability of PV. Three major market segments for PV systems are identified: off-grid PV solutions, decentralised small scale on-grid PV systems (several kWp) and large scale PV power plants (tens of MWp). Mainly by application of 'grid-parity' and 'fuel-parity' concepts per country, local market and conventional power plant basis, the global economic market potential for all major PV system segments is derived. PV power plant hybridization potential of all relevant power technologies and the global power plant structure are analyzed regarding technical, economical and geographical feasibility. Key success criteria for hybrid PV power plants are discussed and comprehensively analysed for all adequate power plant technologies, i.e. oil, gas and coal fired power

  17. Economics of hybrid photovoltaic power plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Breyer, Christian

    2012-08-16

    The global power supply stability is faced to several severe and fundamental threats, in particular steadily increasing power demand, diminishing and degrading fossil and nuclear energy resources, very harmful greenhouse gas emissions, significant energy injustice and a structurally misbalanced ecological footprint. Photovoltaic (PV) power systems are analysed in various aspects focusing on economic and technical considerations of supplemental and substitutional power supply to the constraint conventional power system. To infer the most relevant system approach for PV power plants several solar resources available for PV systems are compared. By combining the different solar resources and respective economics, two major PV systems are identified to be very competitive in almost all regions in the world. The experience curve concept is used as a key technique for the development of scenario assumptions on economic projections for the decade of the 2010s. Main drivers for cost reductions in PV systems are learning and production growth rate, thus several relevant aspects are discussed such as research and development investments, technical PV market potential, different PV technologies and the energetic sustainability of PV. Three major market segments for PV systems are identified: off-grid PV solutions, decentralised small scale on-grid PV systems (several kWp) and large scale PV power plants (tens of MWp). Mainly by application of 'grid-parity' and 'fuel-parity' concepts per country, local market and conventional power plant basis, the global economic market potential for all major PV system segments is derived. PV power plant hybridization potential of all relevant power technologies and the global power plant structure are analyzed regarding technical, economical and geographical feasibility. Key success criteria for hybrid PV power plants are discussed and comprehensively analysed for all adequate power plant technologies, i.e. oil, gas and

  18. SAPFLUXNET: towards a global database of sap flow measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poyatos, Rafael; Granda, Víctor; Molowny-Horas, Roberto; Mencuccini, Maurizio; Steppe, Kathy; Martínez-Vilalta, Jordi

    2016-12-01

    Plant transpiration is the main evaporative flux from terrestrial ecosystems; it controls land surface energy balance, determines catchment hydrological responses and influences regional and global climate. Transpiration regulation by plants is a key (and still not completely understood) process that underlies vegetation drought responses and land evaporative fluxes under global change scenarios. Thermometric methods of sap flow measurement have now been widely used to quantify whole-plant and stand transpiration in forests, shrublands and orchards around the world. A large body of research has applied sap flow methods to analyse seasonal and diurnal patterns of transpiration and to quantify their responses to hydroclimatic variability, but syntheses of sap flow data at regional to global scales are extremely rare. Here we present the SAPFLUXNET initiative, aimed at building the first global database of plant-level sap flow measurements. A preliminary metadata survey launched in December 2015 showed an encouraging response by the sap flow community, with sap flow data sets from field studies representing >160 species and >120 globally distributed sites. The main goal of SAPFLUXNET is to analyse the ecological factors driving plant- and stand-level transpiration. SAPFLUXNET will open promising research avenues at an unprecedented global scope, namely: (i) exploring the spatio-temporal variability of plant transpiration and its relationship with plant and stand attributes, (ii) summarizing physiological regulation of transpiration by means of few water-use traits, usable for land surface models, (iii) improving our understanding of the coordination between gas exchange and plant-level traits (e.g., hydraulics) and (iv) analysing the ecological factors controlling stand transpiration and evapotranspiration partitioning. Finally, SAPFLUXNET can provide a benchmark to test models of physiological controls of transpiration, contributing to improve the accuracy of

  19. Alien plant invasions and native plant extinctions: a six-threshold framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downey, Paul O; Richardson, David M

    2016-01-01

    Biological invasions are widely acknowledged as a major threat to global biodiversity. Species from all major taxonomic groups have become invasive. The range of impacts of invasive taxa and the overall magnitude of the threat is increasing. Plants comprise the biggest and best-studied group of invasive species. There is a growing debate; however, regarding the nature of the alien plant threat-in particular whether the outcome is likely to be the widespread extinction of native plant species. The debate has raised questions on whether the threat posed by invasive plants to native plants has been overstated. We provide a conceptual framework to guide discussion on this topic, in which the threat posed by invasive plants is considered in the context of a progression from no impact through to extinction. We define six thresholds along the 'extinction trajectory', global extinction being the final threshold. Although there are no documented examples of either 'in the wild' (Threshold 5) or global extinctions (Threshold 6) of native plants that are attributable solely to plant invasions, there is evidence that native plants have crossed or breached other thresholds along the extinction trajectory due to the impacts associated with plant invasions. Several factors may be masking where native species are on the trajectory; these include a lack of appropriate data to accurately map the position of species on the trajectory, the timeframe required to definitively state that extinctions have occurred and management interventions. Such interventions, focussing mainly on Thresholds 1-3 (a declining population through to the local extinction of a population), are likely to alter the extinction trajectory of some species. The critical issue for conservation managers is the trend, because interventions must be implemented before extinctions occur. Thus the lack of evidence for extinctions attributable to plant invasions does not mean we should disregard the broader threat

  20. Plant diversity increases with the strength of negative density dependence at the global scale

    Science.gov (United States)

    LaManna, Joseph A.; Mangan, Scott A.; Alonso, Alfonso; Bourg, Norman; Brockelman, Warren Y.; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Chang, Li-Wan; Chiang, Jyh-Min; Chuyong, George B.; Clay, Keith; Condit, Richard; Cordell, Susan; Davies, Stuart J.; Furniss, Tucker J.; Giardina, Christian P.; Gunatilleke, I.A.U. Nimal; Gunatilleke, C.V. Savitri; He, Fangliang; Howe, Robert W.; Hubbell, Stephen P.; Hsieh, Chang-Fu; Inman-Narahari, Faith M.; Janik, David; Johnson, Daniel J.; Kenfack, David; Korte, Lisa; Kral, Kamil; Larson, Andrew J.; Lutz, James A.; McMahon, Sean M.; McShea, William J.; Memiaghe, Herve R.; Nathalang, Anuttara; Novotny, Vojtech; Ong, Perry S.; Orwig, David A.; Ostertag, Rebecca; Parker, Geoffrey G.; Phillips, Richard P.; Sack, Lawren; Sun, I-Fang; Tello, J. Sebastian; Thomas, Duncan W.; Turner, Benjamin L.; Vela Diaz, Dilys M.; Vrska, Tomas; Weiblen, George D.; Wolf, Amy; Yap, Sandra; Myers, Jonathan A.

    2017-01-01

    Theory predicts that higher biodiversity in the tropics is maintained by specialized interactions among plants and their natural enemies that result in conspecific negative density dependence (CNDD). By using more than 3000 species and nearly 2.4 million trees across 24 forest plots worldwide, we show that global patterns in tree species diversity reflect not only stronger CNDD at tropical versus temperate latitudes but also a latitudinal shift in the relationship between CNDD and species abundance. CNDD was stronger for rare species at tropical versus temperate latitudes, potentially causing the persistence of greater numbers of rare species in the tropics. Our study reveals fundamental differences in the nature of local-scale biotic interactions that contribute to the maintenance of species diversity across temperate and tropical communities.

  1. The Jena Diversity-Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (JeDi-DGVM: a diverse approach to representing terrestrial biogeography and biogeochemistry based on plant functional trade-offs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Pavlick

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Terrestrial biosphere models typically abstract the immense diversity of vegetation forms and functioning into a relatively small set of predefined semi-empirical plant functional types (PFTs. There is growing evidence, however, from the field ecology community as well as from modelling studies that current PFT schemes may not adequately represent the observed variations in plant functional traits and their effect on ecosystem functioning. In this paper, we introduce the Jena Diversity-Dynamic Global Vegetation Model (JeDi-DGVM as a new approach to terrestrial biosphere modelling with a richer representation of functional diversity than traditional modelling approaches based on a small number of fixed PFTs. JeDi-DGVM simulates the performance of a large number of randomly generated plant growth strategies, each defined by a set of 15 trait parameters which characterize various aspects of plant functioning including carbon allocation, ecophysiology and phenology. Each trait parameter is involved in one or more functional trade-offs. These trade-offs ultimately determine whether a strategy is able to survive under the climatic conditions in a given model grid cell and its performance relative to the other strategies. The biogeochemical fluxes and land surface properties of the individual strategies are aggregated to the grid-cell scale using a mass-based weighting scheme. We evaluate the simulated global biogeochemical patterns against a variety of field and satellite-based observations following a protocol established by the Carbon-Land Model Intercomparison Project. The land surface fluxes and vegetation structural properties are reasonably well simulated by JeDi-DGVM, and compare favourably with other state-of-the-art global vegetation models. We also evaluate the simulated patterns of functional diversity and the sensitivity of the JeDi-DGVM modelling approach to the number of sampled strategies. Altogether, the results demonstrate the

  2. Global impact of induced mutation in plant breeding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhatia, R.

    2001-01-01

    Sudden, heritable changes in the genetic material, DNA, are known as mutations. Selection of naturally occurring mutations in wild, ancestral species helped humans in the domestication and further improvement of today's crop plants. Although Charles Darwin was unaware in 1859 of variation and mutations in living organisms, his theory of evolution by natural selection assumed variability. Much later, it was established that mutations are the source of biodiversity, and the driving force for evolution. Gregor Mendel in 1865 also used several mutants in his experiments with garden pea to formulate the laws of inheritance. The term mutation itself was used for the first time by Hugo de Vries in 1901 in his mutation theory. Plant breeding based on the science of genetics, as practiced over the past 100 years, exploited the available genetic variability in the primary gene pool of crop plants, and sometimes in related species. This approach enlarged the yield potential of crops several fold. It also a) improved the stability of yield by incorporating resistance to various biotic and abiotic stresses; b) improved quality of the produce; and c) altered the adaptability of crop species, providing opportunities to grow new crops for food security outside their traditional range. Genetically improved seed (or other planting material) is the most significant input for developing sustainable cropping systems for food security and economic growth. Half of the increased productivity of today's crop plants comes from genetic improvements. The other half is contributed by inputs and management practices

  3. Role of CBFs as Integrators of Chloroplast Redox, Phytochrome and Plant Hormone Signaling during Cold Acclimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Norman P. A. Hüner

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available Cold acclimation of winter cereals and other winter hardy species is a prerequisite to increase subsequent freezing tolerance. Low temperatures upregulate the expression of C-repeat/dehydration-responsive element binding transcription factors (CBF/DREB1 which in turn induce the expression of COLD-REGULATED (COR genes. We summarize evidence which indicates that the integration of these interactions is responsible for the dwarf phenotype and enhanced photosynthetic performance associated with cold-acclimated and CBF-overexpressing plants. Plants overexpressing CBFs but grown at warm temperatures mimic the cold-tolerant, dwarf, compact phenotype; increased photosynthetic performance; and biomass accumulation typically associated with cold-acclimated plants. In this review, we propose a model whereby the cold acclimation signal is perceived by plants through an integration of low temperature and changes in light intensity, as well as changes in light quality. Such integration leads to the activation of the CBF-regulon and subsequent upregulation of COR gene and GA 2-oxidase (GA2ox expression which results in a dwarf phenotype coupled with increased freezing tolerance and enhanced photosynthetic performance. We conclude that, due to their photoautotrophic nature, plants do not rely on a single low temperature sensor, but integrate changes in light intensity, light quality, and membrane viscosity in order to establish the cold-acclimated state. CBFs appear to act as master regulators of these interconnecting sensing/signaling pathways.

  4. GARLIC-B. A digital code for real-time calculation of the transient behaviour of nodal and global core and plant parameters of BWR nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ercan, Y.; Hoeld, A.; Lupas, O.

    1982-04-01

    A program description of the code GARLIC-B is given. The code is based on a nonlinear transient model for BWR nuclear power plants which consist of a 3D-core, a top plenum, steam removal and feed water systems and a downcomer with main coolant recirculation pumps. The core is subdivided into a number of superboxes and flow channels with different coolant mass flow rates. Subcooled boiling within these channels has an important reactivity feed back effect and has to be taken also into account. The code computes the local and global core and plant transient situation as dependent on both the inherent core dynamics and external control actions, i.e., disturbances such as motions of control rod banks, changes of mass flow rates of coolant, feed water and steam outlet. The case of a pressure-controlled reactor operation is also considered. (orig./GL) [de

  5. Evaluation of Winter Hardiness in Peppermint (Mentha piperita L. by Electrolyte Leakage Indicator

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Nezami

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Peppermint or Mentha is an aromatic, medicinal and perennial herb from Lamiaceae family which has been used for healing a variety of diseases such as common cold, bronchitis, nausea, flatulence, diarrhea, vomiting, indigestion, stomach cramps, menstrual cramps and parasitoids. Peppermint is largely cultivated in Indiana, Mexican and California for the production of peppermint oil. Mentha reveals suitable winter hardiness in warm and temperate regions, But in cold areas, it confronts with winter stresses particularly freezing stress. So recognizing the freeze tolerance of peppermint for successful planting and using of this plant in cold regions such as Mashhad, Iran where peppermint is cultivated now is important. Among the many laboratory methods which have been developed to evaluate freez ing tolerance of plants, electrolyte leakage (EL test is widely used. This test is based on this principle that any damage to the cell membranes results in enhanced leakage of solutes into the apoplastic water, hence measuring the amount of leakage after stress treatments provides an estimation of tissue injury. Often, the 50% level of relative EL, or index of injury, is simply equaled to 50% sample mortality. This study was done to evaluate the freeze tolerance of peppermint organs by electrolyte leakage test and also to determine the winter survival ability of this plant by lethal temperature at which 50% of electrolytes leaked from the cell (LT50el. Materials and methods: In order to evaluate the cold tolerance of peppermint, a factorial experiment based on completely randomized design with four replications was carried out under controlled conditions. For this aim samples from stolon and rhizome of peppermint were selected monthly (December 2010 to April 2011 from Research Field, College of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and were exposed to low temperatures (from 0 to -20°C with 4°C intervals in a thermo gradient freezer at

  6. Drought versus heat: What's the major constraint on Mediterranean green roof plants?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Savi, Tadeja; Dal Borgo, Anna; Love, Veronica L.; Andri, Sergio; Tretiach, Mauro; Nardini, Andrea

    2016-01-01

    Green roofs are gaining momentum in the arid and semi-arid regions due to their multiple benefits as compared with conventional roofs. One of the most critical steps in green roof installation is the selection of drought and heat tolerant species that can thrive under extreme microclimate conditions. We monitored the water status, growth and survival of 11 drought-adapted shrub species grown on shallow green roof modules (10 and 13 cm deep substrate) and analyzed traits enabling plants to cope with drought (symplastic and apoplastic resistance) and heat stress (root membrane stability). The physiological traits conferring efficiency/safety to the water transport system under severe drought influenced plant water status and represent good predictors of both plant water use and growth rates over green roofs. Moreover, our data suggest that high substrate temperature represents a stress factor affecting plant survival to a larger extent than drought per se. In fact, the major cause influencing seedling survival on shallow substrates was the species-specific root resistance to heat, a single and easy measurable trait that should be integrated into the methodological framework for screening and selection of suitable shrub species for roof greening in the Mediterranean. - Highlights: • The use of hardy shrub species for roof greening should be increased. • We monitored water status of 11 shrub species growing on shallow green roofs. • Species heat and drought tolerance, growth, and survival were studied. • High substrate temperature significantly affected plant survival. • Root resistance to heat could be used as trait for species selection for green roofs.

  7. Are narcissists hardy or vulnerable? The role of narcissism in the production of stress-related biomarkers in response to emotional distress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Joey T; Tracy, Jessica L; Miller, Gregory E

    2013-12-01

    Does narcissism provide a source of hardiness or vulnerability in the face of adversity? The present research addressed this question by testing whether narcissism is associated with increased physiological reactivity to emotional distress, among women. Drawing on the "fragile-ego" account, we predicted that narcissists would show a heightened physiological stress profile in response to everyday frustrations. Results supported this prediction; across a 3-day period, highly narcissistic individuals showed elevated output of 2 biomarkers of stress--cortisol and alpha--amylase-to the extent that they experienced negative emotions. In contrast, among those low in narcissism there was no association between these biomarkers and emotions. These findings suggest that narcissists' stress-response systems are particularly sensitive to everyday negative emotions, consistent with the notion that narcissism comes with physiological costs.

  8. Local plant responses to global problems: Dactylis glomerata responses to different traffic pollutants on roadsides.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiménez, M D; de Torre, R; Mola, I; Casado, M A; Balaguer, L

    2018-04-15

    The growing number of road vehicles is a major source of regional and global atmospheric pollution increasing concentrations of CO 2 in the air, and levels of metals in air and soil. Nevertheless, the effects of these pollutants on plants growing at roadsides are poorly documented. We carried out an observational study of unmanipulated plants growing by the road, to identify the morpho-physiological responses in a perennial grass Dactylis glomerata. Firstly, we wanted to know the general effect of traffic intensity and ambient CO 2 and its interactions on different plant traits. Accordingly, we analyzed the photosynthetic response by field A/Ci Response Curves, SLA, pigment pools, foliar nitrogen, carbohydrates and morphological traits in plants at three distances to the road. Secondly, we wanted to know if Dactylis glomerata plants can accumulate metals present on the roadside (Pb, Zn, Cu, and Sr) in their tissues and rhizosphere, and the effect of these metals on morphological traits. The MANCOVA whole model results shown: 1) a significant effect of road ambient CO 2 concentration on morphological traits (not affected by traffic intensity, P interaction CO2 x traffic intensity >0.05), that was mainly driven by a significant negative relationship between the inflorescence number and ambient CO 2 ; 2) a positive and significant relationship between ambient CO 2 and the starch content in leaves (unaffected by traffic intensity); 3) a reduction in J max (electron transport rate) at high traffic intensity. These lines of evidences suggest a decreased photosynthetic capacity due to high traffic intensity and high levels of ambient CO 2 . In addition, Pb, Cu, Zn and Sr were detected in Dactylis glomerata tissues, and Cu accumulated in roots. Finally, we observed that Dactylis glomerata individuals growing at the roadside under high levels of CO 2 and in the presence of metal pollutants, reduced their production of inflorescences. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All

  9. development of hardy sorghum cultivars for the arid and

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    productivity understress. The treated plants significantly (P005) had higher CO, assimilation rate, higher levels ... and whole plants. The adaptation of cell tissue culture to cereal and ... been isolated and grown in acid (AICI,) soil. (Duncal et al.

  10. First Report of Garlic Rust Caused by Puccinia allii on Allium sativum in Minnesota

    Science.gov (United States)

    In July 2010, Allium sativum, cultivar German Extra Hardy Porcelain plants showing foliar symptoms typical of rust infection were brought to the Plant Disease Clinic at the University of Minnesota by a commercial grower from Fillmore county Minnesota. Infected leaves showed circular to oblong lesio...

  11. Global Production Planning Process considering the Supply Risk of Overseas Manufacturing Sites

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hosang Jung

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Although global manufacturers can produce most of their final products in local plants, they need to source components or parts from desirable overseas manufacturing partners at low cost in order to fulfill customer orders. In this global manufacturing environment, capacity information for planning is usually imprecise owing to the various risks of overseas plants (e.g., foreign governments’ policies and labor stability. It is therefore not easy for decision-makers to generate a global production plan showing the production amounts at local plants and overseas manufacturing facilities operated by manufacturing partners. In this paper, we present a new global production planning process considering the supply risk of overseas manufacturing sites. First, local experts estimate the supply capacity of an overseas plant using their judgment to determine when the risk could occur and how large the risk impact would be. Next, we run a global production planning model with the estimated supply capacities. The proposed process systematically adopts the qualitative judgments of local experts in the global production planning process and thus can provide companies with a realistic global production plan. We demonstrate the applicability of the proposed process with a real world case.

  12. A global analysis of bidirectional interactions in alpine plant communities shows facilitators experiencing strong reciprocal fitness costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schöb, Christian; Michalet, Richard; Cavieres, Lohengrin A; Pugnaire, Francisco I; Brooker, Rob W; Butterfield, Bradley J; Cook, Bradley J; Kikvidze, Zaal; Lortie, Christopher J; Xiao, Sa; Al Hayek, Patrick; Anthelme, Fabien; Cranston, Brittany H; García, Mary-Carolina; Le Bagousse-Pinguet, Yoann; Reid, Anya M; le Roux, Peter C; Lingua, Emanuele; Nyakatya, Mawethu J; Touzard, Blaise; Zhao, Liang; Callaway, Ragan M

    2014-04-01

    Facilitative interactions are defined as positive effects of one species on another, but bidirectional feedbacks may be positive, neutral, or negative. Understanding the bidirectional nature of these interactions is a fundamental prerequisite for the assessment of the potential evolutionary consequences of facilitation. In a global study combining observational and experimental approaches, we quantified the impact of the cover and richness of species associated with alpine cushion plants on reproductive traits of the benefactor cushions. We found a decline in cushion seed production with increasing cover of cushion-associated species, indicating that being a benefactor came at an overall cost. The effect of cushion-associated species was negative for flower density and seed set of cushions, but not for fruit set and seed quality. Richness of cushion-associated species had positive effects on seed density and modulated the effects of their abundance on flower density and fruit set, indicating that the costs and benefits of harboring associated species depend on the composition of the plant assemblage. Our study demonstrates 'parasitic' interactions among plants over a wide range of species and environments in alpine systems, and we consider their implications for the possible selective effects of interactions between benefactor and beneficiary species. © 2013 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2013 New Phytologist Trust.

  13. The projected effect on insects, vertebrates, and plants of limiting global warming to 1.5°C rather than 2°C.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warren, R; Price, J; Graham, E; Forstenhaeusler, N; VanDerWal, J

    2018-05-18

    In the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the United Nations is pursuing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C, whereas earlier aspirations focused on a 2°C limit. With current pledges, corresponding to ~3.2°C warming, climatically determined geographic range losses of >50% are projected in ~49% of insects, 44% of plants, and 26% of vertebrates. At 2°C, this falls to 18% of insects, 16% of plants, and 8% of vertebrates and at 1.5°C, to 6% of insects, 8% of plants, and 4% of vertebrates. When warming is limited to 1.5°C as compared with 2°C, numbers of species projected to lose >50% of their range are reduced by ~66% in insects and by ~50% in plants and vertebrates. Copyright © 2018 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.

  14. The Plant Phenology Ontology: A New Informatics Resource for Large-Scale Integration of Plant Phenology Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stucky, Brian J; Guralnick, Rob; Deck, John; Denny, Ellen G; Bolmgren, Kjell; Walls, Ramona

    2018-01-01

    Plant phenology - the timing of plant life-cycle events, such as flowering or leafing out - plays a fundamental role in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, including human agricultural systems. Because plant phenology is often linked with climatic variables, there is widespread interest in developing a deeper understanding of global plant phenology patterns and trends. Although phenology data from around the world are currently available, truly global analyses of plant phenology have so far been difficult because the organizations producing large-scale phenology data are using non-standardized terminologies and metrics during data collection and data processing. To address this problem, we have developed the Plant Phenology Ontology (PPO). The PPO provides the standardized vocabulary and semantic framework that is needed for large-scale integration of heterogeneous plant phenology data. Here, we describe the PPO, and we also report preliminary results of using the PPO and a new data processing pipeline to build a large dataset of phenology information from North America and Europe.

  15. Energy choices and risk beliefs: is it just global warming and fear of a nuclear power plant accident?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenberg, Michael; Truelove, Heather Barnes

    2011-05-01

    A survey of 3,200 U.S. residents focused on two issues associated with the use of nuclear and coal fuels to produce electrical energy. The first was the association between risk beliefs and preferences for coal and nuclear energy. As expected, concern about nuclear power plant accidents led to decreased support for nuclear power, and those who believed that coal causes global warming preferred less coal use. Yet other risk beliefs about the coal and nuclear energy fuel cycles were stronger or equal correlates of public preferences. The second issue is the existence of what we call acknowledged risk takers, respondents who favored increased reliance on nuclear energy, although also noting that there could be a serious nuclear plant accident, and those who favored greater coal use, despite acknowledging a link to global warming. The pro-nuclear group disproportionately was affluent educated white males, and the pro-coal group was relatively poor less educated African-American and Latino females. Yet both shared four similarities: older age, trust in management, belief that the energy facilities help the local economy, and individualistic personal values. These findings show that there is no single public with regard to energy preferences and risk beliefs. Rather, there are multiple populations with different viewpoints that surely would benefit by hearing a clear and comprehensive national energy life cycle policy from the national government. © 2010 Society for Risk Analysis.

  16. Plant traits and plant biogeography control the biotic resistance provided by generalist herbivores

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grutters, B.M.C.; Roijendijk, Yvonne; Verberk, W.C.E.P.; Bakker, E.S.

    2017-01-01

    1.Globalization and climate change trigger species invasions and range shifts, which reshuffle communities at an exceptional rate and expose plant migrants to unfamiliar herbivores. Dominant hypotheses to predict plant success are based on evolutionary novelty: either herbivores are maladapted to

  17. Potential global climate change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1994-01-01

    Global economic integration and growth contribute much to the construction of energy plants, vehicles and other industrial products that produces carbon emission and in effect cause the destruction of the environment. A coordinated policy and response worldwide to curb emissions and to effect global climate change must be introduced. Improvement in scientific understanding is required to monitor how much emission reduction is necessary. In the near term, especially in the next seven years, sustained research and development for low carbon or carbon-free energy is necessary. Other measures must also be introduced, such as limiting the use of vehicles, closing down inefficient power plants, etc. In the long term, the use of the electric car, use solar energy, etc. is required. Reforestation must also be considered to absorb large amounts of carbon in the atmosphere

  18. CCS Retrofit: Analysis of the Global Installed Power Plant Fleet

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2012-07-01

    Electricity generation from coal is still growing rapidly and energy scenarios from the IEA expect a possible increase from today’s 1 600 GW of coal-fired power plants to over 2 600 GW until 2035. This trend will increase the lock-in of carbon intensive electricity sources, while IEA assessments show that two-thirds of total abatement from all sectors should come from the power sector alone to support a least-cost abatement strategy. Since coal-fired power plants have a fairly long lifetime, and in order to meet climate constraints, there is a need either to apply CCS retrofit to some of today’s installed coal-fired power plants once the technology becomes available. Another option would be to retire some plants before the end of their lifetime. This working paper discusses criteria relevant to differentiating between the technical, cost-effective and realistic potential for CCS retrofit. The paper then discusses today’s coal-fired power plant fleet from a statistical perspective, by looking at age, size and the expected performance of today’s plant across several countries. The working paper also highlights the growing demand for applying CCS retrofitting to the coal-fired power plant fleet of the future. In doing so this paper aims at emphasising the need for policy makers, innovators and power plant operators to quickly complete the development of the CCS technology and to identify key countries where retrofit applications will have the biggest extent and impact.

  19. Of Asian forests and European fields: Eastern U.S. plant invasions in a global floristic context.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jason D Fridley

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Biogeographic patterns of species invasions hold important clues to solving the recalcitrant 'who', 'where', and 'why' questions of invasion biology, but the few existing studies make no attempt to distinguish alien floras (all non-native occurrences from invasive floras (rapidly spreading species of significant management concern, nor have invasion biologists asked whether particular habitats are consistently invaded by species from particular regions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here I describe the native floristic provenances of the 2629 alien plant taxa of the Eastern Deciduous Forest of the Eastern U.S. (EUS, and contrast these to the subset of 449 taxa that EUS management agencies have labeled 'invasive'. Although EUS alien plants come from all global floristic regions, nearly half (45% have native ranges that include central and northern Europe or the Mediterranean (39%. In contrast, EUS invasive species are most likely to come from East Asia (29%, a pattern that is magnified when the invasive pool is restricted to species that are native to a single floristic region (25% from East Asia, compared to only 11% from northern/central Europe and 2% from the Mediterranean. Moreover, East Asian invaders are mostly woody (56%, compared to just 23% of the total alien flora and are significantly more likely to invade intact forests and riparian areas than European species, which dominate managed or disturbed ecosystems. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: These patterns suggest that the often-invoked 'imperialist dogma' view of global invasions equating invasion events with the spread of European colonialism is at best a restricted framework for invasion in disturbed ecosystems. This view must be superseded by a biogeographic invasion theory that is explicitly habitat-specific and can explain why particular world biotas tend to dominate particular environments.

  20. Plants on the move: plant-soil interactions in poleward shifting plant species

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Grunsven, van R.H.A.

    2008-01-01

    As a result of recent global climate change, areas that have previously been climatically unsuitable for species have now become suitable new habitats. Many plant-species are expanding their range polewards, colonizing these newly available areas. If these species are able to expand their range

  1. An examination of psychosocial variables moderating the relationship between life stress and injury time-loss among athletes of a high standard.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ford, I W; Eklund, R C; Gordon, S

    2000-05-01

    Based on Williams and Andersen's model of stress and athletic injury, six psychosocial variables were assessed as possible moderators of the relationship between life stress and injury among 121 athletes (65 males, 56 females) competing in a variety of sports at state, national or international level. No significant effects of the sex of the participants were evident. Correlational analyses revealed moderator effects of several variables. Specifically, dispositional optimism and hardiness were related to decreased injury time-loss in athletes when positive life change increased, and global self-esteem was associated with decreased injury time-loss when both negative life change and total life change increased. The results indicate that athletes with more optimism, hardiness or global self-esteem may cope more effectively with life change stress, resulting in reduced injury vulnerability and recovery rates.

  2. Global nuclear survey: Public support for new power plants remains tentative

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2005-01-01

    14 of the 18 countries - and pluralities in the remaining four countries - believes that the risk of terrorist acts involving radioactive materials and nuclear facilities is high because of insufficient protection. A majority of 54 percent across all countries surveyed believe the risk of nuclear terrorism to be high, while three in ten (28%) say that the risk is low; 3) People appreciate the value of nuclear technology. When asked to consider the peaceful uses of nuclear technology, people in all but three countries are most supportive, by far, of medical applications, followed by electricity generation. Across the 18 countries surveyed, respondents are most likely to choose the use of nuclear technology to treat human diseases as their preferred application (39%). This is followed by electricity generation (26%); 4) Stressing the climate benefits of nuclear energy positively influences one in ten people to be more supportive of expanding the role of nuclear power in the world, but there is still a general reluctance to build more nuclear plants; 5) Awareness of the IAEA among the general population is generally low. However, one in four citizens across the 18 countries surveyed say that they have heard or read 'a lot' or 'some' about the agency, with higher awareness in Asia and the Middle East. The full report, Global Public Opinion on Nuclear Issues and the IAEA - Final Report from 18 Countries, is being released today by the IAEA in Vienna. The countries surveyed included: Argentina, Australia, Cameroon, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and the United States. (IAEA)

  3. Drought versus heat: What's the major constraint on Mediterranean green roof plants?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Savi, Tadeja, E-mail: tsavi@units.it [Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste (Italy); Dal Borgo, Anna, E-mail: dalborgo.anna@gmail.com [Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste (Italy); Love, Veronica L., E-mail: vllove1@sheffield.ac.uk [Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste (Italy); Department of Landscape, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2TN (United Kingdom); Andri, Sergio, E-mail: s.andri@seic.it [Harpo seic verdepensile, Via Torino 34, 34123 Trieste (Italy); Tretiach, Mauro, E-mail: tretiach@units.it [Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste (Italy); Nardini, Andrea, E-mail: nardini@units.it [Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita, Università di Trieste, Via L. Giorgieri 10, 34127 Trieste (Italy)

    2016-10-01

    Green roofs are gaining momentum in the arid and semi-arid regions due to their multiple benefits as compared with conventional roofs. One of the most critical steps in green roof installation is the selection of drought and heat tolerant species that can thrive under extreme microclimate conditions. We monitored the water status, growth and survival of 11 drought-adapted shrub species grown on shallow green roof modules (10 and 13 cm deep substrate) and analyzed traits enabling plants to cope with drought (symplastic and apoplastic resistance) and heat stress (root membrane stability). The physiological traits conferring efficiency/safety to the water transport system under severe drought influenced plant water status and represent good predictors of both plant water use and growth rates over green roofs. Moreover, our data suggest that high substrate temperature represents a stress factor affecting plant survival to a larger extent than drought per se. In fact, the major cause influencing seedling survival on shallow substrates was the species-specific root resistance to heat, a single and easy measurable trait that should be integrated into the methodological framework for screening and selection of suitable shrub species for roof greening in the Mediterranean. - Highlights: • The use of hardy shrub species for roof greening should be increased. • We monitored water status of 11 shrub species growing on shallow green roofs. • Species heat and drought tolerance, growth, and survival were studied. • High substrate temperature significantly affected plant survival. • Root resistance to heat could be used as trait for species selection for green roofs.

  4. A global synthesis of plant extinction rates in urban areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahs, Amy K; McDonnell, Mark J; McCarthy, Michael A; Vesk, Peter A; Corlett, Richard T; Norton, Briony A; Clemants, Steven E; Duncan, Richard P; Thompson, Ken; Schwartz, Mark W; Williams, Nicholas S G

    2009-11-01

    Plant extinctions from urban areas are a growing threat to biodiversity worldwide. To minimize this threat, it is critical to understand what factors are influencing plant extinction rates. We compiled plant extinction rate data for 22 cities around the world. Two-thirds of the variation in plant extinction rates was explained by a combination of the city's historical development and the current proportion of native vegetation, with the former explaining the greatest variability. As a single variable, the amount of native vegetation remaining also influenced extinction rates, particularly in cities > 200 years old. Our study demonstrates that the legacies of landscape transformations by agrarian and urban development last for hundreds of years, and modern cities potentially carry a large extinction debt. This finding highlights the importance of preserving native vegetation in urban areas and the need for mitigation to minimize potential plant extinctions in the future.

  5. Isolation and characterization of an atypical LEA protein coding cDNA and its promoter from drought-tolerant plant Prosopis juliflora.

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Suja; Usha, B; Parida, Ajay

    2009-05-01

    Plant growth and productivity are adversely affected by various abiotic and biotic stress factors. Despite the wealth of information on abiotic stress and stress tolerance in plants, many aspects still remain unclear. Prosopis juliflora is a hardy plant reported to be tolerant to drought, salinity, extremes of soil pH, and heavy metal stress. In this paper, we report the isolation and characterization of the complementary DNA clone for an atypical late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein (Pj LEA3) and its putative promoter sequence from P. juliflora. Unlike typical LEA proteins, rich in glycine, Pj LEA3 has alanine as the most abundant amino acid followed by serine and shows an average negative hydropathy. Pj LEA3 is significantly different from other LEA proteins in the NCBI database and shows high similarity to indole-3 acetic-acid-induced protein ARG2 from Vigna radiata. Northern analysis for Pj LEA3 in P. juliflora leaves under 90 mM H2O2 stress revealed up-regulation of transcript at 24 and 48 h. A 1.5-kb fragment upstream the 5' UTR of this gene (putative promoter) was isolated and analyzed in silico. The possible reasons for changes in gene expression during stress in relation to the host plant's stress tolerance mechanisms are discussed.

  6. Macro- and microclimate conditions may alter grapevine deacclimation: variation in thermal amplitude in two contrasting wine regions from North and South America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Antivilo, Francisco Gonzalez; Paz, Rosalía Cristina; Keller, Markus; Borgo, Roberto; Tognetti, Jorge; Juñent, Fidel Roig

    2017-12-01

    Low temperature is a limiting factor that affects vineyard distribution globally. The level of cold hardiness acquired during the dormant season by Vitis sp. is crucial for winter survival. Most research published on this topic has been generated beyond 40° N latitude, where daily mean temperatures may attain injurious levels during the dormant season resulting in significant damage to vines and buds. Symptoms of cold injury have been identified in Mendoza (32-35° S latitude), a Southern Hemisphere wine region characterized by a high thermal amplitude, and warm winds during the dormant season. These symptoms have usually been attributed to drought and/or pathogens, but not to rapid deacclimation followed by injurious low temperatures. Because local information on meteorological events as probable causes is scarce, this research was designed to test and study this assumption by comparing macro-, meso-, and microclimatic data from Mendoza, Argentina, and eastern Washington, USA. The goal was to unveil why freezing damage has occurred in both regions, despite the existence of large climatic differences. Because environmental parameters under field conditions may not correspond to data recorded by conventional weather stations, sensors were installed in vineyards for comparison. Microclimatic conditions on grapevines were also evaluated to assess the most vulnerable portions of field-grown grapevines. In order to better understand if it may be possible to modify cold hardiness status in a short period with high thermal amplitude conditions, deacclimation was induced using a thermal treatment. Hence, despite the fact that Mendoza is warmer, and temperatures are not as extreme as in Washington, high daily thermal amplitude might be partially involved in plant deacclimation, leading to a differential cold hardiness response.

  7. Estimating Risks and Relative Risks in Case-Base Studies under the Assumptions of Gene-Environment Independence and Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chui, Tina Tsz-Ting; Lee, Wen-Chung

    2014-01-01

    Many diseases result from the interactions between genes and the environment. An efficient method has been proposed for a case-control study to estimate the genetic and environmental main effects and their interactions, which exploits the assumptions of gene-environment independence and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. To estimate the absolute and relative risks, one needs to resort to an alternative design: the case-base study. In this paper, the authors show how to analyze a case-base study under the above dual assumptions. This approach is based on a conditional logistic regression of case-counterfactual controls matched data. It can be easily fitted with readily available statistical packages. When the dual assumptions are met, the method is approximately unbiased and has adequate coverage probabilities for confidence intervals. It also results in smaller variances and shorter confidence intervals as compared with a previous method for a case-base study which imposes neither assumption. PMID:25137392

  8. Estimating risks and relative risks in case-base studies under the assumptions of gene-environment independence and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tina Tsz-Ting Chui

    Full Text Available Many diseases result from the interactions between genes and the environment. An efficient method has been proposed for a case-control study to estimate the genetic and environmental main effects and their interactions, which exploits the assumptions of gene-environment independence and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. To estimate the absolute and relative risks, one needs to resort to an alternative design: the case-base study. In this paper, the authors show how to analyze a case-base study under the above dual assumptions. This approach is based on a conditional logistic regression of case-counterfactual controls matched data. It can be easily fitted with readily available statistical packages. When the dual assumptions are met, the method is approximately unbiased and has adequate coverage probabilities for confidence intervals. It also results in smaller variances and shorter confidence intervals as compared with a previous method for a case-base study which imposes neither assumption.

  9. Does plant-Microbe interaction confer stress tolerance in plants: A review?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Akhilesh; Verma, Jay Prakash

    2018-03-01

    The biotic and abiotic stresses are major constraints for crop yield, food quality and global food security. A number of parameters such as physiological, biochemical, molecular of plants are affected under stress condition. Since the use of inorganic fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture practices cause degradation of soil fertility and environmental pollutions. Hence it is necessary to develop safer and sustainable means for agriculture production. The application of plant growth promoting microbes (PGPM) and mycorrhizal fungi enhance plant growth, under such conditions. It offers an economically fascinating and ecologically sound ways for protecting plants against stress condition. PGPM may promote plant growth by regulating plant hormones, improve nutrition acquisition, siderophore production and enhance the antioxidant system. While acquired systemic resistance (ASR) and induced systemic resistance (ISR) effectively deal with biotic stress. Arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) enhance the supply of nutrients and water during stress condition and increase tolerance to stress. This plant-microbe interaction is vital for sustainable agriculture and industrial purpose, because it depends on biological processes and replaces conventional agriculture practices. Therefore, microbes may play a key role as an ecological engineer to solve environmental stress problems. So, it is a feasible and potential technology in future to feed global population at available resources with reduced impact on environmental quality. In this review, we have attempted to explore about abiotic and biotic stress tolerant beneficial microorganisms and their modes of action to enhance the sustainable agricultural production. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  10. An engine for global plant diversity: Highest evolutionary turnover and emigration in the American tropics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexandre eAntonelli

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Understanding the processes that have generated the latitudinal biodiversity gradient and the continental differences in tropical biodiversity remains a major goal of evolutionary biology. Here we estimate the timing and direction of range shifts of extant flowering plants (angiosperms between tropical and non-tropical zones, and into and out of the major tropical regions of the world. We then calculate rates of speciation and extinction taking into account incomplete taxonomic sampling. We use a recently published fossil calibrated phylogeny and apply novel bioinformatic tools to code species into user-defined polygons. We reconstruct biogeographic history using stochastic character mapping to compute relative numbers of range shifts in proportion to the number of available lineages through time. Our results, based on the analysis of c. 22,600 species and c. 20 million geo-referenced occurrence records, show no significant differences between the speciation and extinction of tropical and non-tropical angiosperms. This suggests that at least in plants, the tropical biodiversity gradient primarily derives from other factors than differential rates of diversification. In contrast, the outstanding species richness found today in the American tropics (the Neotropics, as compared to tropical Africa and tropical Asia, is associated with significantly higher speciation and extinction rates. This suggests an exceedingly rapid evolutionary turnover, i.e. Neotropical species being formed and replaced by one another at unparalleled rates. In addition, tropical America stands out from other continents by having ‘pumped out’ more species than it received through most of the last 66 million years. These results imply that the Neotropics have acted as an engine for global plant diversity.

  11. Novel Natural Products for Healthy Ageing from the Mediterranean Diet and Food Plants of Other Global Sources-The MediHealth Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waltenberger, Birgit; Halabalaki, Maria; Schwaiger, Stefan; Adamopoulos, Nicolas; Allouche, Noureddine; Fiebich, Bernd L; Hermans, Nina; Jansen-Dürr, Pidder; Kesternich, Victor; Pieters, Luc; Schönbichler, Stefan; Skaltsounis, Alexios-Leandros; Tran, Hung; Trougakos, Ioannis P; Viljoen, Alvaro; Wolfender, Jean-Luc; Wolfrum, Christian; Xynos, Nikos; Stuppner, Hermann

    2018-05-06

    There is a rapid increase in the percentage of elderly people in Europe. Consequently, the prevalence of age-related diseases will also significantly increase. Therefore, the main goal of MediHealth, an international research project, is to introduce a novel approach for the discovery of active agents of food plants from the Mediterranean diet and other global sources that promote healthy ageing. To achieve this goal, a series of plants from the Mediterranean diet and food plants from other origins are carefully selected and subjected to in silico, cell-based, in vivo (fly and mouse models), and metabolism analyses. Advanced analytical techniques complement the bio-evaluation process for the efficient isolation and identification of the bioactive plant constituents. Furthermore, pharmacological profiling of bioactive natural products, as well as the identification and synthesis of their metabolites, is carried out. Finally, optimization studies are performed in order to proceed to the development of innovative nutraceuticals, dietary supplements or herbal medicinal products. The project is based on an exchange of researchers between nine universities and four companies from European and non-European countries, exploiting the existing complementary multidisciplinary expertise. Herein, the unique and novel approach of this interdisciplinary project is presented.

  12. A two-locus global DNA barcode for land plants: the coding rbcL gene complements the non-coding trnH-psbA spacer region.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kress, W John; Erickson, David L

    2007-06-06

    A useful DNA barcode requires sufficient sequence variation to distinguish between species and ease of application across a broad range of taxa. Discovery of a DNA barcode for land plants has been limited by intrinsically lower rates of sequence evolution in plant genomes than that observed in animals. This low rate has complicated the trade-off in finding a locus that is universal and readily sequenced and has sufficiently high sequence divergence at the species-level. Here, a global plant DNA barcode system is evaluated by comparing universal application and degree of sequence divergence for nine putative barcode loci, including coding and non-coding regions, singly and in pairs across a phylogenetically diverse set of 48 genera (two species per genus). No single locus could discriminate among species in a pair in more than 79% of genera, whereas discrimination increased to nearly 88% when the non-coding trnH-psbA spacer was paired with one of three coding loci, including rbcL. In silico trials were conducted in which DNA sequences from GenBank were used to further evaluate the discriminatory power of a subset of these loci. These trials supported the earlier observation that trnH-psbA coupled with rbcL can correctly identify and discriminate among related species. A combination of the non-coding trnH-psbA spacer region and a portion of the coding rbcL gene is recommended as a two-locus global land plant barcode that provides the necessary universality and species discrimination.

  13. Identification of quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling cold tolerance in chickpea recombinant RIL population (CRIL2) from Cicer arietinum L. x Cicer reticulatum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Published yields for chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) are higher when the crop is planted in the fall rather than in the spring seasons (Singh et al 1989, Singh et al 1997). Because of its lack of cold hardiness alleles to survive freezing temperatures, chickpea is planted in the spring in temperate re...

  14. Mapping of QTLs for leaf area and the association with winter ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Variations in plant architecture are often associated with the ability of plants to survive cold stress during winter. In studies of winter hardiness in lentil, it appeared that small leaf area was associated with improved winter survival. Based on this observation, the inheritance of leaf area and the relationship with winter ...

  15. GlobalStat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    GlobalStat gathers an impressive and up-to-date number of energy statistics for all countries in the world on a single, normalised and harmonized database. Overall energy balances and balances by energy source (oil, gas, coal, electricity, biomass, renewable) are provided. It also contents detailed energy statistics on production by energy source; import / Export: total and by energy source; input/output of power plants, refineries, gas plants, coal plants, renewable processing, heat plants, cogeneration; final consumption by energy and sector (30 sectors); consumption structures by sector for each energy; consumption trends by energy and by sector; energy market shares by sector; energy efficiency indicators: total and by sector; electricity generation capacities by source (hydro, nuclear, geothermal, wind, solar, oil, coal, gas, cogeneration); refining and Lng capacity; reserves (oil, gas, lignite, uranium, hydro); end-user Prices and Taxes by energy and sector (households, industry, transport, electricity generation from oil, coal and gas); import / Export Prices of oil, coal and gas; macro-economic data; demography (population, urbanization); GDP by sector, industry output by main branch; consumer price index, exchange rate. (A.L.B.)

  16. Green Plants in the Red: A Baseline Global Assessment for the IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Neil A Brummitt

    Full Text Available Plants provide fundamental support systems for life on Earth and are the basis for all terrestrial ecosystems; a decline in plant diversity will be detrimental to all other groups of organisms including humans. Decline in plant diversity has been hard to quantify, due to the huge numbers of known and yet to be discovered species and the lack of an adequate baseline assessment of extinction risk against which to track changes. The biodiversity of many remote parts of the world remains poorly known, and the rate of new assessments of extinction risk for individual plant species approximates the rate at which new plant species are described. Thus the question 'How threatened are plants?' is still very difficult to answer accurately. While completing assessments for each species of plant remains a distant prospect, by assessing a randomly selected sample of species the Sampled Red List Index for Plants gives, for the first time, an accurate view of how threatened plants are across the world. It represents the first key phase of ongoing efforts to monitor the status of the world's plants. More than 20% of plant species assessed are threatened with extinction, and the habitat with the most threatened species is overwhelmingly tropical rain forest, where the greatest threat to plants is anthropogenic habitat conversion, for arable and livestock agriculture, and harvesting of natural resources. Gymnosperms (e.g. conifers and cycads are the most threatened group, while a third of plant species included in this study have yet to receive an assessment or are so poorly known that we cannot yet ascertain whether they are threatened or not. This study provides a baseline assessment from which trends in the status of plant biodiversity can be measured and periodically reassessed.

  17. Study on fusion energy conformity with global environmental issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurihara, Kenichi

    1998-01-01

    Global environmental conformity has been one of the most important issues discussed recently as being required for all human activities. From this point of view, this report investigates whether nuclear fusion can be a benign energy source for the global environment. First of all, we chose the following global environmental problems: (1) Global warming, (2) Acid rain, (3) Ozonosphere destruction, (4) Air pollution, (5) Environmental hormones, (6) Radiation and radioactive materials, (7) Electromagnetic waves, and (8) Heat drainage from an energy source. Secondly, these problems were fully surveyed in terms of their relationships with proposed nuclear fusion power plant. Finally, as a result of this discussion, it was confirmed that a fusion power plant would not produce any new problems, but would partially contribute to solving some of the environmental problems. (author)

  18. Hydrologic regulation of plant rooting depth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Ying; Miguez-Macho, Gonzalo; Jobbágy, Esteban G; Jackson, Robert B; Otero-Casal, Carlos

    2017-10-03

    Plant rooting depth affects ecosystem resilience to environmental stress such as drought. Deep roots connect deep soil/groundwater to the atmosphere, thus influencing the hydrologic cycle and climate. Deep roots enhance bedrock weathering, thus regulating the long-term carbon cycle. However, we know little about how deep roots go and why. Here, we present a global synthesis of 2,200 root observations of >1,000 species along biotic (life form, genus) and abiotic (precipitation, soil, drainage) gradients. Results reveal strong sensitivities of rooting depth to local soil water profiles determined by precipitation infiltration depth from the top (reflecting climate and soil), and groundwater table depth from below (reflecting topography-driven land drainage). In well-drained uplands, rooting depth follows infiltration depth; in waterlogged lowlands, roots stay shallow, avoiding oxygen stress below the water table; in between, high productivity and drought can send roots many meters down to the groundwater capillary fringe. This framework explains the contrasting rooting depths observed under the same climate for the same species but at distinct topographic positions. We assess the global significance of these hydrologic mechanisms by estimating root water-uptake depths using an inverse model, based on observed productivity and atmosphere, at 30″ (∼1-km) global grids to capture the topography critical to soil hydrology. The resulting patterns of plant rooting depth bear a strong topographic and hydrologic signature at landscape to global scales. They underscore a fundamental plant-water feedback pathway that may be critical to understanding plant-mediated global change.

  19. Hydrologic regulation of plant rooting depth

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Ying; Miguez-Macho, Gonzalo; Jobbágy, Esteban G.; Jackson, Robert B.; Otero-Casal, Carlos

    2017-10-01

    Plant rooting depth affects ecosystem resilience to environmental stress such as drought. Deep roots connect deep soil/groundwater to the atmosphere, thus influencing the hydrologic cycle and climate. Deep roots enhance bedrock weathering, thus regulating the long-term carbon cycle. However, we know little about how deep roots go and why. Here, we present a global synthesis of 2,200 root observations of >1,000 species along biotic (life form, genus) and abiotic (precipitation, soil, drainage) gradients. Results reveal strong sensitivities of rooting depth to local soil water profiles determined by precipitation infiltration depth from the top (reflecting climate and soil), and groundwater table depth from below (reflecting topography-driven land drainage). In well-drained uplands, rooting depth follows infiltration depth; in waterlogged lowlands, roots stay shallow, avoiding oxygen stress below the water table; in between, high productivity and drought can send roots many meters down to the groundwater capillary fringe. This framework explains the contrasting rooting depths observed under the same climate for the same species but at distinct topographic positions. We assess the global significance of these hydrologic mechanisms by estimating root water-uptake depths using an inverse model, based on observed productivity and atmosphere, at 30″ (˜1-km) global grids to capture the topography critical to soil hydrology. The resulting patterns of plant rooting depth bear a strong topographic and hydrologic signature at landscape to global scales. They underscore a fundamental plant-water feedback pathway that may be critical to understanding plant-mediated global change.

  20. Simulating the effects of climate and agricultural management practices on global crop yield

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deryng, D.; Sacks, W. J.; Barford, C. C.; Ramankutty, N.

    2011-06-01

    Climate change is expected to significantly impact global food production, and it is important to understand the potential geographic distribution of yield losses and the means to alleviate them. This study presents a new global crop model, PEGASUS 1.0 (Predicting Ecosystem Goods And Services Using Scenarios) that integrates, in addition to climate, the effect of planting dates and cultivar choices, irrigation, and fertilizer application on crop yield for maize, soybean, and spring wheat. PEGASUS combines carbon dynamics for crops with a surface energy and soil water balance model. It also benefits from the recent development of a suite of global data sets and analyses that serve as model inputs or as calibration data. These include data on crop planting and harvesting dates, crop-specific irrigated areas, a global analysis of yield gaps, and harvested area and yield of major crops. Model results for present-day climate and farm management compare reasonably well with global data. Simulated planting and harvesting dates are within the range of crop calendar observations in more than 75% of the total crop-harvested areas. Correlation of simulated and observed crop yields indicates a weighted coefficient of determination, with the weighting based on crop-harvested area, of 0.81 for maize, 0.66 for soybean, and 0.45 for spring wheat. We found that changes in temperature and precipitation as predicted by global climate models for the 2050s lead to a global yield reduction if planting and harvesting dates remain unchanged. However, adapting planting dates and cultivar choices increases yield in temperate regions and avoids 7-18% of global losses.

  1. Global diversity and geography of soil fungi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leho Tedersoo; Mohammad Bahram; Sergei Põlme; Urmas Kõljalg; Nourou S. Yorou; Ravi Wijesundera; Luis Villarreal Ruiz; Aida M. Vasco-Palacios; Pham Quang Thu; Ave Suija; Matthew E. Smith; Cathy Sharp; Erki Saluveer; Alessandro Saitta; Miguel Rosas; Taavi Riit; David Ratkowsky; Karin Pritsch; Kadri Põldmaa; Meike Piepenbring; Cherdchai Phosri; Marko Peterson; Kaarin Parts; Kadri Pärtel; Eveli Otsing; Eduardo Nouhra; André L. Njouonkou; R. Henrik Nilsson; Luis N. Morgado; Jordan Mayor; Tom W. May; Luiza Majukim; D. Jean Lodge; Su See Lee; Karl-Henrik Larsson; Petr Kohout; Kentaro Hosaka; Indrek Hiiesalu; Terry W. Henkel; Helery Harend; Liang-dong Guo; Alina Greslebin; Gwen Gretlet; Jozsef Geml; Genevieve Gates; William Dunstan; Chris Dunk; Rein Drenkhan; John Dearnaley; André De Kesel; Tan Dang; Xin Chen; Franz Buegger; Francis Q. Brearley; Gregory Bonito; Sten Anslan; Sandra Abell; Kessy Abarenkov

    2014-01-01

    Fungi play major roles in ecosystem processes, but the determinants of fungal diversity and biogeographic patterns remain poorly understood. Using DNA metabarcoding data from hundreds of globally distributed soil samples,we demonstrate that fungal richness is decoupled from plant diversity.The plant-to-fungus richness ratio declines exponentially toward the poles....

  2. A high-level dynamic analysis approach for studying global process plant availability and production time in the early stages of mining projects

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dennis Travagini Cremonese

    Full Text Available Abstract In the early stage of front-end studies of a Mining Project, the global availability (i.e. number of hours a plant is available for production and production (number of hours a plant is actually operated with material time of the process plant are normally assumed based on the experience of the study team. Understanding and defining the availability hours at the early stages of the project are important for the future stages of the project, as drastic changes in work hours will impact the economics of the project at that stage. An innovative high-level dynamic modeling approach has been developed to assist in the rapid evaluation of assumptions made by the study team. This model incorporates systems or equipment that are commonly used in mining projects from mine to product stockyard discharge after the processing plant. It includes subsystems that will simulate all the component handling, and major process plant systems required for a mining project. The output data provided by this high-level dynamic simulation approach will enhance the confidence level of engineering carried out during the early stage of the project. This study discusses the capabilities of the approach, and a test case compared with standard techniques used in mining project front-end studies.

  3. Comparison of health and environmental effects of nuclear power plants and lignite-burning power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horacek, P.; Chytil, I.; Razga, J.

    1988-01-01

    The individual factors are discussed which characterize the impact of nuclear power plants and lignite-burning power plants on human health and on the environment. The study proceeds from the IAEA categorization of these impacts. In this light, attention is centred on the impact of the normal operation of power plants and on accidents. The former category is further divided into regional impacts such as the emission of chemical substances, the emission of radioactive substances, heat emissions and the sum of regional factors, and on global impacts such as emissions of carbon dioxide, emissions of long-lived radionuclides and the sum of global impacts. It is stated that research should pay more attention to the dangers of the effects of such a state of affairs when the infrastructure contaminated after a large-scale accident would be put out of operation, and the dangers of such a situation especially in small countries with great population densities. Such accidents represent the biggest danger of the use of nuclear power. The greatest danger of coal-burning power plants is their global impact on the atmosphere caused by the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels. (Z.M.). 4 figs., 13 refs

  4. Fungal biogeography. Global diversity and geography of soil fungi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tedersoo, Leho; Bahram, Mohammad; Põlme, Sergei; Kõljalg, Urmas; Yorou, Nourou S; Wijesundera, Ravi; Villarreal Ruiz, Luis; Vasco-Palacios, Aída M; Thu, Pham Quang; Suija, Ave; Smith, Matthew E; Sharp, Cathy; Saluveer, Erki; Saitta, Alessandro; Rosas, Miguel; Riit, Taavi; Ratkowsky, David; Pritsch, Karin; Põldmaa, Kadri; Piepenbring, Meike; Phosri, Cherdchai; Peterson, Marko; Parts, Kaarin; Pärtel, Kadri; Otsing, Eveli; Nouhra, Eduardo; Njouonkou, André L; Nilsson, R Henrik; Morgado, Luis N; Mayor, Jordan; May, Tom W; Majuakim, Luiza; Lodge, D Jean; Lee, Su See; Larsson, Karl-Henrik; Kohout, Petr; Hosaka, Kentaro; Hiiesalu, Indrek; Henkel, Terry W; Harend, Helery; Guo, Liang-dong; Greslebin, Alina; Grelet, Gwen; Geml, Jozsef; Gates, Genevieve; Dunstan, William; Dunk, Chris; Drenkhan, Rein; Dearnaley, John; De Kesel, André; Dang, Tan; Chen, Xin; Buegger, Franz; Brearley, Francis Q; Bonito, Gregory; Anslan, Sten; Abell, Sandra; Abarenkov, Kessy

    2014-11-28

    Fungi play major roles in ecosystem processes, but the determinants of fungal diversity and biogeographic patterns remain poorly understood. Using DNA metabarcoding data from hundreds of globally distributed soil samples, we demonstrate that fungal richness is decoupled from plant diversity. The plant-to-fungus richness ratio declines exponentially toward the poles. Climatic factors, followed by edaphic and spatial variables, constitute the best predictors of fungal richness and community composition at the global scale. Fungi show similar latitudinal diversity gradients to other organisms, with several notable exceptions. These findings advance our understanding of global fungal diversity patterns and permit integration of fungi into a general macroecological framework. Copyright © 2014, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  5. Genome of the Asian longhorned beetle (Anoplophora glabripennis), a globally significant invasive species, reveals key functional and evolutionary innovations at the beetle-plant interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenna, Duane D; Scully, Erin D; Pauchet, Yannick; Hoover, Kelli; Kirsch, Roy; Geib, Scott M; Mitchell, Robert F; Waterhouse, Robert M; Ahn, Seung-Joon; Arsala, Deanna; Benoit, Joshua B; Blackmon, Heath; Bledsoe, Tiffany; Bowsher, Julia H; Busch, André; Calla, Bernarda; Chao, Hsu; Childers, Anna K; Childers, Christopher; Clarke, Dave J; Cohen, Lorna; Demuth, Jeffery P; Dinh, Huyen; Doddapaneni, HarshaVardhan; Dolan, Amanda; Duan, Jian J; Dugan, Shannon; Friedrich, Markus; Glastad, Karl M; Goodisman, Michael A D; Haddad, Stephanie; Han, Yi; Hughes, Daniel S T; Ioannidis, Panagiotis; Johnston, J Spencer; Jones, Jeffery W; Kuhn, Leslie A; Lance, David R; Lee, Chien-Yueh; Lee, Sandra L; Lin, Han; Lynch, Jeremy A; Moczek, Armin P; Murali, Shwetha C; Muzny, Donna M; Nelson, David R; Palli, Subba R; Panfilio, Kristen A; Pers, Dan; Poelchau, Monica F; Quan, Honghu; Qu, Jiaxin; Ray, Ann M; Rinehart, Joseph P; Robertson, Hugh M; Roehrdanz, Richard; Rosendale, Andrew J; Shin, Seunggwan; Silva, Christian; Torson, Alex S; Jentzsch, Iris M Vargas; Werren, John H; Worley, Kim C; Yocum, George; Zdobnov, Evgeny M; Gibbs, Richard A; Richards, Stephen

    2016-11-11

    Relatively little is known about the genomic basis and evolution of wood-feeding in beetles. We undertook genome sequencing and annotation, gene expression assays, studies of plant cell wall degrading enzymes, and other functional and comparative studies of the Asian longhorned beetle, Anoplophora glabripennis, a globally significant invasive species capable of inflicting severe feeding damage on many important tree species. Complementary studies of genes encoding enzymes involved in digestion of woody plant tissues or detoxification of plant allelochemicals were undertaken with the genomes of 14 additional insects, including the newly sequenced emerald ash borer and bull-headed dung beetle. The Asian longhorned beetle genome encodes a uniquely diverse arsenal of enzymes that can degrade the main polysaccharide networks in plant cell walls, detoxify plant allelochemicals, and otherwise facilitate feeding on woody plants. It has the metabolic plasticity needed to feed on diverse plant species, contributing to its highly invasive nature. Large expansions of chemosensory genes involved in the reception of pheromones and plant kairomones are consistent with the complexity of chemical cues it uses to find host plants and mates. Amplification and functional divergence of genes associated with specialized feeding on plants, including genes originally obtained via horizontal gene transfer from fungi and bacteria, contributed to the addition, expansion, and enhancement of the metabolic repertoire of the Asian longhorned beetle, certain other phytophagous beetles, and to a lesser degree, other phytophagous insects. Our results thus begin to establish a genomic basis for the evolutionary success of beetles on plants.

  6. RiceAtlas, a spatial database of global rice calendars and production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laborte, Alice G; Gutierrez, Mary Anne; Balanza, Jane Girly; Saito, Kazuki; Zwart, Sander J; Boschetti, Mirco; Murty, M V R; Villano, Lorena; Aunario, Jorrel Khalil; Reinke, Russell; Koo, Jawoo; Hijmans, Robert J; Nelson, Andrew

    2017-05-30

    Knowing where, when, and how much rice is planted and harvested is crucial information for understanding the effects of policy, trade, and global and technological change on food security. We developed RiceAtlas, a spatial database on the seasonal distribution of the world's rice production. It consists of data on rice planting and harvesting dates by growing season and estimates of monthly production for all rice-producing countries. Sources used for planting and harvesting dates include global and regional databases, national publications, online reports, and expert knowledge. Monthly production data were estimated based on annual or seasonal production statistics, and planting and harvesting dates. RiceAtlas has 2,725 spatial units. Compared with available global crop calendars, RiceAtlas is nearly ten times more spatially detailed and has nearly seven times more spatial units, with at least two seasons of calendar data, making RiceAtlas the most comprehensive and detailed spatial database on rice calendar and production.

  7. The role and place of medicinal plants in the strategies for disease ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Medicinal plants have been used in healthcare since time immemorial. Studies have been carried out globally to verify their efficacy and some of the findings have led to the production of plant-based medicines. The global market value of medicinal plant products exceeds $100 billion per annum. This paper discusses the ...

  8. Plant community mediation of ecosystem responses to global change factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Churchill, A. C.

    2017-12-01

    Human alteration of the numerous environmental drivers affecting ecosystem processes is unprecedented in the last century, including changes in climate regimes and rapid increases in the availability of biologically active nitrogen (N). Plant communities may offer stabilizing or amplifying feedbacks mediating potential ecosystem responses to these alterations, and my research seeks to examine the conditions associated with when plant feedbacks are important for ecosystem change. My dissertation research focused on the unintended consequences of N deposition into natural landscapes, including alpine ecosystems which are particularly susceptible to adverse environmental impacts. In particular, I examined alpine plant and soil responses to N deposition 1) across multiple spatial scales throughout the Southern Rocky Mountains, 2) among diverse plant communities associated with unique environmental conditions common in the alpine of this region, and 3) among ecosystem pools of N contributing to stabilization of N inputs within those communities. I found that communities responded to inputs of N differently, often associated with traits of dominant plant species but these responses were intimately linked with the abiotic conditions of each independent community. Even so, statistical models predicting metrics of N processing in the alpine were improved by encompassing both abiotic and biotic components of the main community types.

  9. Impact of global climate change on ecosystem-level interactions among sympatric plants from all three photosynthetic pathways. Terminal report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nobel, P.S.

    1997-12-17

    The proposed research will determine biochemical and physiological responses to variations in environmental factors for plants of all three photosynthetic pathways under competitive situations in the field. These responses will be used to predict the effects of global climatic change on an ecosystem in the northwestern Sonoran Desert where the C{sub 3} subshrub Encelia farinosa, the C{sub 4} bunchgrass Hilaria rigida, and the CAM succulent Agave deserti are co-dominants. These perennials are relatively short with overlapping shallow roots facilitating the experimental measurements as well as leading to competition for soil water. Net CO{sub 2} uptake over 24-h periods measured in the laboratory will be analyzed using an environmental productivity index (EPI) that can incorporate simultaneous effects of soil water, air temperature, and light. Based on EPI, net CO{sub 2} uptake and hence plant productivity will be predicted for the three species in the field under various treatments. Activity of the two CO{sub 2} fixation enzymes, Rubisco and PEPCase, will be determined for these various environmental conditions; also, partitioning of carbon to various organs will be measured based on {sup 14}CO{sub 2} labeling and dry weight analysis. Thus, enzymatic and partitioning controls on competition among sympatric model plants representing all three photosynthetic pathways will be investigated.

  10. Global alteration of climate - hopes and fears

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Viktorov, V.V.

    1992-01-01

    Problems concerning gaseous emission affecting the global climate alteration connected with hotbed effect are considered. Economical and social-political ways of solution of the problem of minimization of gaseous wastes are described. Role of nuclear power plants and alternative power plants in the hotbed effect are analyzed. International cooperation in environmental protection policy is discussed

  11. Radiological impact of emissions from reprocessing plants during normal operation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bonka, H.; Gruendler, D.; Hesel, D.; Muenster, M.; Schmidtlein, P.; Suender, B.

    1977-01-01

    When comparing the expected radiation exposure due to emissions from reprocessing plants with those from nuclear power plants it can be seen that the emissions from reprocessing plants contribute much more to the radiation exposure of the population than those from nuclear power plants. In the vicinity of reprocessing plants the highest contributions to the radiation exposure of the population are delivered by the following radionuclides: T, C 14 , Kr 85 , Sr 90 , Ru 106 , I 129 , Cs 134 , Cs 137 and Ce 144 as will as the Pu- and Cm-isotopes. Among these nuclides T, C 14 , Kr 85 und I 129 are globally distributed. While for T the contribution to the collective dose due to globally distributed T is small in comparison with the first pass exposure, the global contribution predominates for C 14 and Kr 85 . If an integration time of less than 10 5 years is considered, the contribution due to first pass exposure predominates for I 129 . When taking the radiation protection of the population into consideration, it seems sensible to retain 10% of T, 80 to 90% of C 14 , 90% of Kr 85 and 99,5% of I 129 in reprocessing plants and dispose of this material in a controlled manner. The fraction of the aerosols released should be about 10 -9 . Considering the global effects and the increasing number of nuclear power plants and reprocessing plants, an international agreement should be reached on these matters. (orig.) [de

  12. Hitchhiker's guide to multi-dimensional plant pathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saunders, Diane G O

    2015-02-01

    Filamentous pathogens pose a substantial threat to global food security. One central question in plant pathology is how pathogens cause infection and manage to evade or suppress plant immunity to promote disease. With many technological advances over the past decade, including DNA sequencing technology, an array of new tools has become embedded within the toolbox of next-generation plant pathologists. By employing a multidisciplinary approach plant pathologists can fully leverage these technical advances to answer key questions in plant pathology, aimed at achieving global food security. This review discusses the impact of: cell biology and genetics on progressing our understanding of infection structure formation on the leaf surface; biochemical and molecular analysis to study how pathogens subdue plant immunity and manipulate plant processes through effectors; genomics and DNA sequencing technologies on all areas of plant pathology; and new forms of collaboration on accelerating exploitation of big data. As we embark on the next phase in plant pathology, the integration of systems biology promises to provide a holistic perspective of plant–pathogen interactions from big data and only once we fully appreciate these complexities can we design truly sustainable solutions to preserve our resources.

  13. Plant species' origin predicts dominance and response to nutrient enrichment and herbivores in global grasslands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seabloom, Eric W.; Borer, Elizabeth T.; Buckley, Yvonne M.; Cleland, Elsa E.; Davies, Kendi F.; Firn, Jennifer; Harpole, W. Stanley; Hautier, Yann; Lind, Eric M.; MacDougall, Andrew S.; Orrock, John L.; Prober, Suzanne M.; Adler, Peter B.; Anderson, T. Michael; Bakker, Jonathan D.; Biederman, Lori A.; Blumenthal, Dana M.; Brown, Cynthia S.; Brudvig, Lars A.; Cadotte, Marc; Chu, Chengjin; Cottingham, Kathryn L.; Crawley, Michael J.; Damschen, Ellen I.; Dantonio, Carla M.; DeCrappeo, Nicole M.; Du, Guozhen; Fay, Philip A.; Frater, Paul; Gruner, Daniel S.; Hagenah, Nicole; Hector, Andy; Hillebrand, Helmut; Hofmockel, Kirsten S.; Humphries, Hope C.; Jin, Virginia L.; Kay, Adam; Kirkman, Kevin P.; Klein, Julia A.; Knops, Johannes M. H.; La Pierre, Kimberly J.; Ladwig, Laura; Lambrinos, John G.; Li, Qi; Li, Wei; Marushia, Robin; McCulley, Rebecca L.; Melbourne, Brett A.; Mitchell, Charles E.; Moore, Joslin L.; Morgan, John; Mortensen, Brent; O'Halloran, Lydia R.; Pyke, David A.; Risch, Anita C.; Sankaran, Mahesh; Schuetz, Martin; Simonsen, Anna; Smith, Melinda D.; Stevens, Carly J.; Sullivan, Lauren; Wolkovich, Elizabeth; Wragg, Peter D.; Wright, Justin; Yang, Louie

    2015-01-01

    Exotic species dominate many communities; however the functional significance of species' biogeographic origin remains highly contentious. This debate is fuelled in part by the lack of globally replicated, systematic data assessing the relationship between species provenance, function and response to perturbations. We examined the abundance of native and exotic plant species at 64 grasslands in 13 countries, and at a subset of the sites we experimentally tested native and exotic species responses to two fundamental drivers of invasion, mineral nutrient supplies and vertebrate herbivory. Exotic species are six times more likely to dominate communities than native species. Furthermore, while experimental nutrient addition increases the cover and richness of exotic species, nutrients decrease native diversity and cover. Native and exotic species also differ in their response to vertebrate consumer exclusion. These results suggest that species origin has functional significance, and that eutrophication will lead to increased exotic dominance in grasslands. PMID:26173623

  14. Water vs. carbon: An evaluation of SMAP soil moisture and OCO-2 solar-induced fluorescence to characterize global plant stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purdy, A. J.; Fisher, J.; Goulden, M.; Randerson, J. T.; Famiglietti, J. S.

    2017-12-01

    Plants link the carbon and water cycles through photosynthesis and evapotranspiration (ET). When plants take in CO2 for photosynthesis, water evaporates to the atmosphere. This exchange of carbon and water is sensitive to a number of environmental variables including: soil water availability, temperature, atmospheric water vapor, and radiation. When the atmospheric demand for water is high, plants avoid hydraulic failure by regulating the amount of water exiting leaves at the expense of inhibiting carbon uptake. Over time, stress caused by this response limits plant growth and can even result in death by carbon starvation. With increasing atmospheric demand for water, impending expansion of arid regions, and more frequent droughts, understanding how vegetation responds to regulate photosynthesis and ET is important to quantify potential feedbacks between the carbon and water cycles. Despite its importance, to what extent plants respond to stressful conditions is an open science question. An important step forward is to characterize the dominant controls in these stress events and identify geographic areas that are vulnerable to climate change. The 2015-2016 El Nino and subsequent 2016-2017 La Nina transition provides an opportunity to quantify the extent and magnitude of vegetation regulation of these carbon and water variables in response to changes in environmental conditions. We present results from a space-based analysis using global observations of solar induced fluorescence (SIF) from the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2), soil moisture from Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP), and two widely used ET models (PT-JPL and MOD-16) to characterize the dominant controls on gross primary production and ET.

  15. Global assessment of the effects of terrestrial acidification on plant species richness

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Azevedo, Ligia B.; Zelm, Rosalie van; Hendriks, A. Jan; Bobbink, Roland; Huijbregts, Mark A.J.

    2013-01-01

    This study estimates the potential losses of vascular plant species richness due to terrestrial acidification for different world's biomes. We used empirical occurrence data of 2409 species from 140 studies and estimated the relative species richness – pH response curves using logistic regressions. The regressions were then used to quantify the fraction of species that are potentially lost due to soil pH changes. Although we found considerable variability within biomes, out results show that the pH at which species richness was maximized was found to be the lowest in (sub)tropical forests (pH = 4.1) and the highest in deserts (pH = 7.4). We also found that (sub)tropical moist forests are highly sensitive to decreases of in soil pH below 4.1. This study can be coupled with existing atmospheric deposition models to quantify the risk of species richness loss following soil acidification. Highlights: ► We compare the sensitivity of four biomes to soil acidification. ► We develop logistic regressions using observational field data. ► Sub(tropical) moist forests are highly affected by pH decreases. ► Logistic regressions can be linked to global scale atmospheric and soil fate models. -- Relationships of potential species richness loss along a soil pH gradient are proposed

  16. Advanced passive technology: A global standard for nuclear plant requirements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novak, V.

    1994-01-01

    Since 1984, Westinghouse has been developing AP8OO, a 800 MW, two-loop advanced passive plant, in response to an initiative established by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the U.S. Department of Energy' (DOE). The preliminary design was cornpleved in 1989. AP6OO's Standard Safety Analysis and Probabilistic Risk analysis Reports were submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for design certification in 1992. Design simplification is the key strategy behind the AP6OO. The basic technical concept Of simplification has resulted in a simplified reactor coolant systems, simplified plant systems, a simplified plant arrangement, reduced number of components, simplified operation and maintenance

  17. Advanced passive technology: A global standard for nuclear plant requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Novak, V

    1994-12-31

    Since 1984, Westinghouse has been developing AP8OO, a 800 MW, two-loop advanced passive plant, in response to an initiative established by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and the U.S. Department of Energy` (DOE). The preliminary design was cornpleved in 1989. AP6OO`s Standard Safety Analysis and Probabilistic Risk analysis Reports were submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for design certification in 1992. Design simplification is the key strategy behind the AP6OO. The basic technical concept Of simplification has resulted in a simplified reactor coolant systems, simplified plant systems, a simplified plant arrangement, reduced number of components, simplified operation and maintenance.

  18. Methane emissions form terrestrial plants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bergamaschi, P.; Dentener, F.; Grassi, G.; Leip, A.; Somogyi, Z.; Federici, S.; Seufert, G.; Raes, F. [European Commission, DG Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Ispra (Italy)

    2006-07-01

    In a recent issue of Nature Keppler et al. (2006) report the discovery that terrestrial plants emit CH4 under aerobic conditions. Until now it was thought that bacterial decomposition of plant material under anaerobic conditions, such as in wetlands and water flooded rice paddies, is the main process leading to emissions from terrestrial ecosystems. In a first attempt to upscale these measurements, the authors estimate that global total emissions may be 149 Tg CH4/yr (62-236 Tg CH4/yr), with the main contribution estimated from tropical forests and grasslands (107 Tg CH4/yr with a range of 46-169 Tg CH4/yr). If confirmed, this new source of emission would constitute a significant fraction of the total global methane sources (estimated 500-600 Tg CH4/yr for present day total natural and anthropogenic sources) and have important implications for the global CH4 budget. To accommodate it within the present budget some sources would need to be re-assessed downwards and/or some sinks re-assessed upwards. Furthermore, also considering that methane is a {approx}23 times more powerful greenhouse gas than CO2, the possible feedbacks of these hitherto unknown CH4 emissions on global warming and their impacts on greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation strategies need to be carefully evaluated. The merit of the paper is without doubt related to the remarkable discovery of a new process of methane emissions active under aerobic conditions. However, we think that the applied approach of scaling up emissions from the leaf level to global totals by using only few measured data (mainly from herbaceous species) and the Net Primary Productivity of the main biomes is scientifically questionable and tends to overestimate considerably the global estimates, especially for forest biomes. Furthermore, some significant constraints on the upper limit of the global natural CH4 emissions arise from the pre-industrial CH4 budget. Pre-industrial atmospheric CH4 mixing ratios have been measured

  19. Assessing the environmental impacts of freshwater thermal pollution from global power generation in LCA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raptis, Catherine E; Boucher, Justin M; Pfister, Stephan

    2017-02-15

    Freshwater heat emissions from power plants with once-through cooling systems constitute one of many environmental pressures related to the thermoelectric power industry. The objective of this work was to obtain high resolution, operational characterization factors (CF) for the impact of heat emissions on ecosystem quality, and carry out a comprehensive, spatially, temporally and technologically differentiated damage-based environmental assessment of global freshwater thermal pollution. The aggregation of CFs on a watershed level results in 12.5% lower annual impacts globally and even smaller differences for the most crucial watersheds and months, so watershed level CFs are recommended when the exact emission site within the basin is unknown. Long-range impacts account for almost 90% of the total global impacts. The Great Lakes, several Mississippi subbasins, the Danube, and the Yangtze are among the most thermally impacted watersheds globally, receiving heat emissions from predominantly coal-fuelled and nuclear power plants. Globally, over 80% of the global annual impacts come from power plants constructed during or before the 1980s. While the impact-weighted mean age of the power plants in the Mississippi ranges from 38 to 51years, in Chinese watersheds including the Yangtze, the equivalent range is only 15 to 22years, reflecting a stark contrast in thermal pollution mitigation approaches. With relatively high shares of total capacity from power plants with once-through freshwater cooling, and tracing a large part of the Danube, 1kWh of net electricity mix is the most impactful in Hungary, Bulgaria and Serbia. Monthly CFs are provided on a grid cell level and on a watershed level for use in Life Cycle Assessment. The impacts per generating unit are also provided, as part of our effort to make available a global dataset of thermoelectric power plant emissions and impacts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. How to globally reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from sewage systems?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batz, S. de; Bonardet, P.; Trouve, J.P.

    2007-01-01

    A reliable and exhaustive measurement of the global greenhouse gas emissions from a given sewage plant must be performed prior to the implementation of any abatement measure. The method presented in this paper takes into consideration both the direct emissions but also the indirect ones generated by the plant activity and identified using a life cycle-type approach. Three examples of projects or realizations are presented in this paper to illustrate the different means of abatement of greenhouse gas emissions from a sewage plant in a global way. The first example concerns a project of abatement of the electricity consumption of a plant for sludges and fats digestion and biogas valorization. A 85% global abatement of CO 2 emissions is obtained thanks to the substitution of the aerobic digestion process by an anaerobic one. The second example presents an optimization of the greenhouse gas emissions of the municipal sewage plant of Valenton (Paris region) thanks to a valorization of sludges as fertilizers and fuels and to the recovery of the process heat. The last example concerns the Seine-aval sewage plant which gathers several projects of improvement: setting up of a second biogas turbine, redesign of the heat loop, use of river transport for a significant abatement of greenhouse gas emissions. (J.S.)

  1. Thinking outside the mainstream; Canadian NGL plants face global competition and decline

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jaremko, D.

    2005-01-01

    The nature of the natural gas liquids (NGL) market, and the future prospects of the Canadian NGL industry are discussed. In the short term, demand for NGLs like propane, ethane and condensate is up, the supply picture is good, and the profit margins for Canadian gas plants look positive. At the same time, staying competitive with oil-based naptha and global NGL imports is expected to become more difficult, and the longer term future is far from being without significant problems. Competition is likely to grow as the Canadian energy industry is increasingly looking to heavy oil and bitumen to meet coming energy demand needs; given that it takes about a thousand cubic feet of natural gas to produce each barrel of oil from the oilsands, serious impact on natural gas availability is inevitable, which in turn will affect the supply of NGLs. To reduce the pressure on natural gas, there is an urgent need to come up with other sources of heavy oil production; various options such as coal, nuclear power and even coal gasification are being investigated, albeit too slowly to arrest the decline of North American conventional gas production that started in 2001. Expert opinion is that the real hope for the NGL industry, as well as for the future of natural gas, is the stranded reserve in the Arctic which, however, is expected to flow soon from the Mackenzie Delta. While Arctic gas is expected to negate the impact of waterborne imports from other countries by the USA, the absence of overseas imports does not alter the fact that North America as a petrochemical manufacturer is no longer as competitive with other countries as it once was. The unpleasant reality is that new petrochemical plants are more likely to be built in the Far East and China, where both the feedstock as well as the labour, are much cheaper. 3 photos

  2. Power Watch - A global, open database of power plants that supports research on climate, water and air pollution impact of the global power sector.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedrich, J.; Kressig, A.; Van Groenou, S.; McCormick, C.

    2017-12-01

    Challenge The lack of transparent, accessible, and centralized power sector data inhibits the ability to research the impact of the global power sector. information gaps for citizens, analysts, and decision makers worldwide create barriers to sustainable development efforts. The need for transparent, accessible, and centralized information is especially important to enhance the commitments outlined in the recently adopted Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. Offer Power Watch will address this challenge by creating a comprehensive, open-source platform on the world's power systems. The platform hosts data on 85% of global installed electrical capacity and for each power plant will include data points on installed capacity, fuel type, annual generation, commissioning year, with more characteristics like emissions, particulate matter, annual water demand and more added over time. Most of the data is reported from national level sources, but annual generation and other operational characteristiscs are estimated via Machine Learning modeling and remotely sensed data when not officially reported. In addition, Power Watch plans to provide a suite of tools that address specific decision maker needs, such as water risk assessments and air pollution modeling. Impact Through open data, the platform and its tools will allow reserachers to do more analysis of power sector impacts and perform energy modeling. It will help catalyze accountability for policy makers, businesses, and investors and will inform and drive the transition to a clean energy future while reaching development targets.

  3. ENERGI NUKLIR SEBAGAI SOLUSI UNTUK MENGHAMBAT PEMANASAN GLOBAL

    OpenAIRE

    Finahari, Ida Nuryatin

    2018-01-01

    Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the earth surface, atmosphere and oceans.The global warming in recent years has been international issues. The issues come to the surfacebecause global warming has the very big impact to the world and the lives of animal, plant and human,such as world climate change. The main cause of global warming is the combustion of fossil fuel suchas coal, oil and natural gas, that released carbon dioxide and other gases to atmosphere as greenh...

  4. Plant-microbe and plant-insect interactions meet common grounds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schenk, P.; McGrath, K.C.; Lorito, M.; Pieterse, C.M.J.

    2008-01-01

    Plant–microbe and plant–insect interactions are of global importance for agriculture and of high interest to many plant scientists, microbiologists and entomologists. Traditionally, plant–microbe and plant–insect interactions have been looked at as two separate issues, but in recent years it has

  5. Food Security: Selected Global and U.S. Resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kocher, Megan

    2015-01-01

    Food security is researched and dealt with on local, regional, national, and global levels with solutions ranging from local farmers' market initiatives to increasing crop yields through genetically modified plants to streamlining global supply chains. Because of its broad, interdisciplinary nature, it is necessary to narrow the focus of this…

  6. The global nuclear safety regime and its impact in Brazil

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Almeida, C.

    2004-01-01

    This work describes the Global Nuclear Safety Regime that was established worldwide after the accident at the Tchernobyl nuclear power plant. This regime is composed of biding international safety conventions, globally accepted safety standard, and a voluntary peer review system. The impact of this Global Regime in Brazil is also discussed. (Author)

  7. Evolution of the future plants operation for a better safety

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Papin, B.; Malvache, P.

    1994-01-01

    This paper describes a coordinated research project of the french CEA, addressing to the evolutions in plant operation apt to bring perceptible and assessable improvement in the operational safety. This program has been scheduled for the 1992-1996 period, with a global 40 men/year effort. The present status of the two main parts of the project is presented: ESCRIME (program aiming at defining the optimal share of tasks between humans and computers in plant operation), IMAGIN (research in the domain of plant information management, in order to ensure the global coherence of the image of the plant, used by the different actors in plant operation). (authors). 3 refs., 4 figs

  8. Recent Progress on Data-Based Optimization for Mineral Processing Plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jinliang Ding

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available In the globalized market environment, increasingly significant economic and environmental factors within complex industrial plants impose importance on the optimization of global production indices; such optimization includes improvements in production efficiency, product quality, and yield, along with reductions of energy and resource usage. This paper briefly overviews recent progress in data-driven hybrid intelligence optimization methods and technologies in improving the performance of global production indices in mineral processing. First, we provide the problem description. Next, we summarize recent progress in data-based optimization for mineral processing plants. This optimization consists of four layers: optimization of the target values for monthly global production indices, optimization of the target values for daily global production indices, optimization of the target values for operational indices, and automation systems for unit processes. We briefly overview recent progress in each of the different layers. Finally, we point out opportunities for future works in data-based optimization for mineral processing plants.

  9. Global warming: A vicious circle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sinclair, J.

    1991-01-01

    As a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases the planet is already committed to regional droughts, storms, disruption of fisheries and the extinction of many plant and animal species. But current predictions of global warming do not take into account the reactions and interactions of the planet's land, ocean and ice masses to the rise in temperatures. It seems likely that the greenhouse effect will give rise to positive feedback reactions, leading to greater global warming than predicted

  10. Global vibrations in the wetwell condensation process caused by LOCA in BWR plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bjoerndahl, O.; Andersson, Magnus

    1998-12-01

    During the last years a substantial part of third part review work related to dynamical loadings has been review of loading specifications dealing with vibrations in containment building related to so called LOCA-events in Swedish BWR plants. Compared to other loading categories characterised as global vibrations these secondary effects of LOCA-events are complex to analyse. One experience from the review work at SAQ up to now is that it is not fully clear what prediction methods and what model idealisations are the most adequate for structural integrity verification on mechanical systems as pressure vessels and piping under such loading conditions. At SAQ Teknik a project work has been carried out to investigate the general status of the methodology used today in Sweden and a work to in the long term develop simplified prediction models and methods for the loading categories condensation oscillations (CO) and chugging (CH). The work was initially concentrated on a study of the background of the methodology which was developed for these type of loading in American BWR-containments of the Mark-II design. The methodology was developed by General Electric, GE, in cooperation with the Mark-II plant owners. The methodology used in Sweden to predict vibrations in BWR containments of this design is with some minor modifications very close to technique developed by GE. The methodology developed by GE is the only accepted by USNRC for the Mark-II design and could be found as reference in Standard Review Plan 6.2.1.1.C, Rev 6 - August 1984. Based on identical physical assumptions about the dynamic behaviour of the building structure and the water in the suppression pool, mathematical models are derived in this report for predictions of secondary structure response spectra for loading conditions as global vibrations during CO and CH. Based on parameters identified by so called one pipe experiments responses my be predicted. By use of these derived mathematical models as a

  11. Effects of three global change drivers on terrestrial C:N:P stoichiometry

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yue, Kai; Fornara, Dario A; Yang, Wanqin

    2017-01-01

    more common than synergistic or antagonistic interactions, (4) C:N:P stoichiometry of soil and soil microbial biomass shows high homeostasis under global change manipulations, and (5) C:N:P responses to global change are strongly affected by ecosystem type, local climate and experimental conditions......Over the last few decades there has been an increasing number of controlled-manipulative experiments to investigate how plants and soils might respond to global change. These experiments typically examined the effects of each of three global change drivers (i.e. nitrogen (N) deposition, warming...... of plants, soils and soil microbial biomass might respond to individual vs. combined effects of the three global change drivers. Our results show that (1) individual effects of N addition and elevated CO2 on C:N:P stoichiometry are stronger than warming, (2) combined effects of pairs of global change...

  12. Solar ultraviolet radiation and ozone depletion-driven climate change: effects on terrestrial ecosystems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bornman, J F; Barnes, P W; Robinson, S A; Ballaré, C L; Flint, S D; Caldwell, M M

    2015-01-01

    In this assessment we summarise advances in our knowledge of how UV-B radiation (280-315 nm), together with other climate change factors, influence terrestrial organisms and ecosystems. We identify key uncertainties and knowledge gaps that limit our ability to fully evaluate the interactive effects of ozone depletion and climate change on these systems. We also evaluate the biological consequences of the way in which stratospheric ozone depletion has contributed to climate change in the Southern Hemisphere. Since the last assessment, several new findings or insights have emerged or been strengthened. These include: (1) the increasing recognition that UV-B radiation has specific regulatory roles in plant growth and development that in turn can have beneficial consequences for plant productivity via effects on plant hardiness, enhanced plant resistance to herbivores and pathogens, and improved quality of agricultural products with subsequent implications for food security; (2) UV-B radiation together with UV-A (315-400 nm) and visible (400-700 nm) radiation are significant drivers of decomposition of plant litter in globally important arid and semi-arid ecosystems, such as grasslands and deserts. This occurs through the process of photodegradation, which has implications for nutrient cycling and carbon storage, although considerable uncertainty exists in quantifying its regional and global biogeochemical significance; (3) UV radiation can contribute to climate change via its stimulation of volatile organic compounds from plants, plant litter and soils, although the magnitude, rates and spatial patterns of these emissions remain highly uncertain at present. UV-induced release of carbon from plant litter and soils may also contribute to global warming; and (4) depletion of ozone in the Southern Hemisphere modifies climate directly via effects on seasonal weather patterns (precipitation and wind) and these in turn have been linked to changes in the growth of plants

  13. The changing role of ornamental horticulture in alien plant invasions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Kleunen, Mark; Essl, Franz; Pergl, Jan; Brundu, Giuseppe; Carboni, Marta; Dullinger, Stefan; Early, Regan; González-Moreno, Pablo; Groom, Quentin J; Hulme, Philip E; Kueffer, Christoph; Kühn, Ingolf; Máguas, Cristina; Maurel, Noëlie; Novoa, Ana; Parepa, Madalin; Pyšek, Petr; Seebens, Hanno; Tanner, Rob; Touza, Julia; Verbrugge, Laura; Weber, Ewald; Dawson, Wayne; Kreft, Holger; Weigelt, Patrick; Winter, Marten; Klonner, Günther; Talluto, Matthew V; Dehnen-Schmutz, Katharina

    2018-03-05

    The number of alien plants escaping from cultivation into native ecosystems is increasing steadily. We provide an overview of the historical, contemporary and potential future roles of ornamental horticulture in plant invasions. We show that currently at least 75% and 93% of the global naturalised alien flora is grown in domestic and botanical gardens, respectively. Species grown in gardens also have a larger naturalised range than those that are not. After the Middle Ages, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, a global trade network in plants emerged. Since then, cultivated alien species also started to appear in the wild more frequently than non-cultivated aliens globally, particularly during the 19th century. Horticulture still plays a prominent role in current plant introduction, and the monetary value of live-plant imports in different parts of the world is steadily increasing. Historically, botanical gardens - an important component of horticulture - played a major role in displaying, cultivating and distributing new plant discoveries. While the role of botanical gardens in the horticultural supply chain has declined, they are still a significant link, with one-third of institutions involved in retail-plant sales and horticultural research. However, botanical gardens have also become more dependent on commercial nurseries as plant sources, particularly in North America. Plants selected for ornamental purposes are not a random selection of the global flora, and some of the plant characteristics promoted through horticulture, such as fast growth, also promote invasion. Efforts to breed non-invasive plant cultivars are still rare. Socio-economical, technological, and environmental changes will lead to novel patterns of plant introductions and invasion opportunities for the species that are already cultivated. We describe the role that horticulture could play in mediating these changes. We identify current research challenges, and call for more

  14. The global distribution of diet breadth in insect herbivores.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forister, Matthew L; Novotny, Vojtech; Panorska, Anna K; Baje, Leontine; Basset, Yves; Butterill, Philip T; Cizek, Lukas; Coley, Phyllis D; Dem, Francesca; Diniz, Ivone R; Drozd, Pavel; Fox, Mark; Glassmire, Andrea E; Hazen, Rebecca; Hrcek, Jan; Jahner, Joshua P; Kaman, Ondrej; Kozubowski, Tomasz J; Kursar, Thomas A; Lewis, Owen T; Lill, John; Marquis, Robert J; Miller, Scott E; Morais, Helena C; Murakami, Masashi; Nickel, Herbert; Pardikes, Nicholas A; Ricklefs, Robert E; Singer, Michael S; Smilanich, Angela M; Stireman, John O; Villamarín-Cortez, Santiago; Vodka, Stepan; Volf, Martin; Wagner, David L; Walla, Thomas; Weiblen, George D; Dyer, Lee A

    2015-01-13

    Understanding variation in resource specialization is important for progress on issues that include coevolution, community assembly, ecosystem processes, and the latitudinal gradient of species richness. Herbivorous insects are useful models for studying resource specialization, and the interaction between plants and herbivorous insects is one of the most common and consequential ecological associations on the planet. However, uncertainty persists regarding fundamental features of herbivore diet breadth, including its relationship to latitude and plant species richness. Here, we use a global dataset to investigate host range for over 7,500 insect herbivore species covering a wide taxonomic breadth and interacting with more than 2,000 species of plants in 165 families. We ask whether relatively specialized and generalized herbivores represent a dichotomy rather than a continuum from few to many host families and species attacked and whether diet breadth changes with increasing plant species richness toward the tropics. Across geographic regions and taxonomic subsets of the data, we find that the distribution of diet breadth is fit well by a discrete, truncated Pareto power law characterized by the predominance of specialized herbivores and a long, thin tail of more generalized species. Both the taxonomic and phylogenetic distributions of diet breadth shift globally with latitude, consistent with a higher frequency of specialized insects in tropical regions. We also find that more diverse lineages of plants support assemblages of relatively more specialized herbivores and that the global distribution of plant diversity contributes to but does not fully explain the latitudinal gradient in insect herbivore specialization.

  15. Identification and conservation of important plant areas (IPAS) for the distribution of medicinal, aromatic and economic plants in the Hindukush-Himalaya mountain range

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sher, H.; Ali, H.; Rehman, S.

    2012-01-01

    Study on the identification of Important Plant Areas (IPAs) was conducted in seven valleys of Hindukush-Himalayas mountainous ranges of Pakistan during 2005 and 2006. The principal aim of the study is to search new avenues for the conservation and sustainable utilization of threatened medicinal and economic plants and their habitats in IPAs. IPAs are sites of tremendous ecological and economic values that still exist in the world and are being managed on specific sites to study wild plant diversity. Several of such plants are used in the traditional medicines that are being used since the dawn of history to provide basic healthcare to people the world over. According to WHO, 80% of the human population of Africa still use medicinal plants in their primary healthcare. The popularity of herbal drugs is on the constant rise in many developed countries of the world, while in developing countries like Pakistan; medicinal plants contribute significantly to the income sources of people living in remote areas. Keeping such importance in view, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a global vision in the form of 'Global Strategy for Plant Conservation' having various targets and mile stones. Target 5 of the strategy required for the global integration of the herbal medicine in health care system with proper identification of medicinal plants and the conservation of sites where such plants are found naturally, as its basic elements. In order to contribute to the specified target, WHO advised the relevant institutions to develop research plans and conservation programmes that are focused on the Global strategy in general and target 5 in specific. While complementing the appeal and contributing to its vision, a study was conducted in various eco-systems of the Pakistan's Hindukush-Himalayas region, identifying Important Plant Areas (IPAs) for their subsequent conservation and uses for scientific purposes. Site selection for the study was based on: 1). Exceptional

  16. 2009 - Global Energy Balance - Intendente Camara - Ipatinga - Minas Gerais - Brazil - plant - Superintendence of Energy and Utilities; Balanco energetico global - 2009 - Usina Intendente Camara - Ipatinga - Minas Gerais - Superintendencia de Energia e Utilidades

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silveira Junior, Jose Ronaldo; Bastos, Moises Hofer [Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais S/A (USIMINAS), Ipatinga, MG (Brazil)

    2010-07-01

    The Global Energy Balance of the USIMINAS - Usina Intendente Camara em Ipatinga - Minas Gerais - Brazil, in 2009, is presented with the the main energy consumption indicators of the producer areas. It is highlighted during 2009 as followed: the steel demand retraction decurring from the world wild financial crisis, given as consequence the stop of the blast furnace 1 and 2; dinishing of the production of sinter, pig iron, steel, hot and cold rolled rilled mill; gradual elevation of the production rhythm at the at the plant and energy consumption during the year, motivated by the slow and gradual recovering of the steel marketing.

  17. [GENETIC VARIABILITY OF MATERNAL PLANTS AND SEED EMBRYOS OF KOCH PINE POPULATIONS (PINUS KOCHIANA KLOTZSCH EX KOCH) IN CRIMEA].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korshykov, I I; Kalafat, L O; Vynogradova, O M; Podgornyi, D Y

    2016-01-01

    Comparative studies of genetic variability were undertaken for 12 allozyme loci selections of trees and embryos of seed, and also for the crossing systems in five populations of Koch pine of (Pinus kochiana Klotzsch ex Koch) in Crimea. It was shown that in seed embryos the allelic variety peculiar to the maternal plants was restored, however the level of the available (H₀) heterozygosity was considerably lower, 0.286 and 0.189 respectively. For the embryos unlike the trees, in the majority of the analyzed loci the considerable divergence was specific in the actual distribution of genotypes from the theoretically expected according to Hardy- Weinberg law. The proportion of cross pollination at the unilocal (t(s)) estimation varied from 0.384 to 0.673 in the populations, while at the multilocal ones (t(m)) it was 0.639-0.841.

  18. Plants, plant pathogens, and microgravity--a deadly trio

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leach, J. E.; Ryba-White, M.; Sun, Q.; Wu, C. J.; Hilaire, E.; Gartner, C.; Nedukha, O.; Kordyum, E.; Keck, M.; Leung, H.; hide

    2001-01-01

    Plants grown in spaceflight conditions are more susceptible to colonization by plant pathogens. The underlying causes for this enhanced susceptibility are not known. Possibly the formation of structural barriers and the activation of plant defense response components are impaired in spaceflight conditions. Either condition would result from altered gene expression of the plant. Because of the tools available, past studies focused on a few physiological responses or biochemical pathways. With recent advances in genomics research, new tools, including microarray technologies, are available to examine the global impact of growth in the spacecraft on the plant's gene expression profile. In ground-based studies, we have developed cDNA subtraction libraries of rice that are enriched for genes induced during pathogen infection and the defense response. Arrays of these genes are being used to dissect plant defense response pathways in a model system involving wild-type rice plants and lesion mimic mutants. The lesion mimic mutants are ideal experimental tools because they erratically develop defense response-like lesions in the absence of pathogens. The gene expression profiles from these ground-based studies will provide the molecular basis for understanding the biochemical and physiological impacts of spaceflight on plant growth, development and disease defense responses. This, in turn, will allow the development of strategies to manage plant disease for life in the space environment.

  19. International congress on aromatic and medicinal plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2009-01-01

    Full Text : In Morocco, medicinal and aromatic plants occupy an important place in the traditional care system of a large number of local people. They are also economically strong potential, but unfortunately they are not valued enough. Indeed, Morocco by its privileged geographical position in the Mediterranean basin and its floristic diversity (with a total of over 4,200 species and subspecies of which over 500 are recognized as medicinal and aromatic plants), is a leading provider of traditional global market. In this context and given the back label of the natural global, group research and studies on Aromatic and Medicinal Plants (GREPAM), the Faculty of Semlalia and University Cadi Ayyad, organize: the International Congress on Medicinal and Aromatic Plants CIPAM 2009. The organization of this conference is part of scientific research developed by the GREPAM. [fr

  20. Inequalities for Differential Forms

    CERN Document Server

    Agarwal, Ravi P

    2009-01-01

    Presents a series of local and global estimates and inequalities for differential forms, in particular the ones that satisfy the A-harmonic equations. This work focuses on the Hardy-Littlewood, Poincare, Cacciooli, imbedded and reverse Holder inequalities. It is for researchers, instructors and graduate students

  1. A global fouling factor methodology for analyzing steam generator thermal performance degradation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kreider, M.A.; White, G.A.; Varrin, R.D. Jr.

    1998-06-01

    Over the past few years, steam generator (SG) thermal performance degradation has led to decreased plant efficiency and power output at numerous PWR nuclear power plants with recirculating-type SGs. The authors have developed and implemented methodologies for quantitatively evaluating the various sources of SG performance degradation, both internal and external to the SG pressure boundary. These methodologies include computation of the global fouling factor history, evaluation of secondary deposit thermal resistance using deposit characterization data, and consideration of pressure loss causes unrelated to the tube bundle, such as hot-leg temperature streaming and SG moisture separator fouling. In order to evaluate the utility of the global fouling factor methodology, the authors performed case studies for a number of PWR SG designs. Key results from two of these studies are presented here. In tandem with the fouling-factor analyses, a study evaluated for each plant the potential causes of pressure loss. The combined results of the global fouling factor calculations and the pressure-loss evaluations demonstrated two key points: (1) that the available thermal margin against fouling, which can vary substantially from plant to plant, has an important bearing on whether a given plant exhibits losses in electrical generating capacity, and (2) that a wide variety of causes can result in SG thermal performance degradation

  2. Impact of three global change drivers on a Mediterranean shrub.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matesanz, Silvia; Escudero, Adrián; Valladares, Fernando

    2009-09-01

    Global change is not restricted to climate change, and plant species generally face multiple human-driven disturbances constraining their viability. Most importantly, interactions among these drivers frequently generate nonadditive effects that cannot be predicted based on single-factor studies. Our goal was to assess the joint effects of three global change drivers that are especially relevant in Mediterranean ecosystems, namely, fragmentation, reduced habitat quality, and climate change on Centaurea hyssopifolia, a gypsum specialist plant. We carried out a two-year study (2005-2006) in natural populations of this plant in large (>11 ha) and small (< 1.5 ha) fragments. Within each fragment, we identified areas of contrasting habitat quality as revealed by plant cover and nutrient content, and within each combination of habitat quality and fragment size we performed a rainfall manipulation experiment simulating the most likely future climate scenario for the region. Survival, growth, phenology, and reproductive success of selected plants were monitored. The three drivers profoundly affected responses of Centaurea hyssopifolia in both study years, phenology being mainly affected by changes in habitat quality and reductions in rainfall and reproductive traits being mainly affected by fragmentation. Plants in sites of poor habitat quality and plants in the dry treatment advanced most of their phenophases (flowering and dispersing earlier) and showed reduced growth rate and increased fraction of senescent leaves. Plants growing in small fragments had lower survival, lower number of viable seeds, and a reduced seed set compared to those from large fragments. We found significant synergistic interactions among drivers. For example, the interaction between fragmentation and habitat quality led to lower survival and lower relative growth in plants from small and poor-quality habitat sites. Our results highlight the importance of studies addressing simultaneously all

  3. Mapping wood density globally using remote sensing and climatological data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, A.; Camps-Valls, G.; Carvalhais, N.; Kattge, J.; Robinson, N.; Reichstein, M.; Allred, B. W.; Running, S. W.

    2017-12-01

    Wood density (WD) is defined as the oven-dry mass divided by fresh volume, varies between individuals, and describes the carbon investment per unit volume of stem. WD has been proven to be a key functional trait in carbon cycle research and correlates with numerous morphological, mechanical, physiological, and ecological properties. In spite of the utility and importance of this trait, there is a lack of an operational framework to spatialize plant WD measurements at a global scale. In this work, we present a consistent modular processing chain to derive global maps (500 m) of WD using modern machine learning techniques along with optical remote sensing data (MODIS/Landsat) and climate data using the Google Earth Engine platform. The developed approach uses a hierarchical Bayesian approach to fill in gaps in the plant measured WD data set to maximize its global representativeness. WD plant species are then aggregated to Plant Functional Types (PFT). The spatial abundance of PFT at 500 m spatial resolution (MODIS) is calculated using a high resolution (30 m) PFT map developed using Landsat data. Based on these PFT abundances, representative WD values are estimated for each MODIS pixel with nearby measured data. Finally, random forests are used to globally estimate WD from these MODIS pixels using remote sensing and climate. The validation and assessment of the applied methods indicate that the model explains more than 72% of the spatial variance of the calculated community aggregated WD estimates with virtually unbiased estimates and low RMSE (<15%). The maps thus offer new opportunities to study and analyze the global patterns of variation of WD at an unprecedented spatial coverage and spatial resolution.

  4. Impacts of climate change on submerged and emergent wetland plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frederick T. Short; Sarian Kosten; Pamela A. Morgan; Sparkle L Malone; Gregg E. Moore

    2016-01-01

    Submerged and emergent wetland plant communities are evaluated for their response to global climate change (GCC), focusing on seagrasses, submerged freshwater plants, tidal marsh plants, freshwater marsh plants and mangroves. Similarities and differences are assessed in plant community responses to temperature increase, CO2increase, greater UV-B exposure, sea...

  5. Economical aspects of a nuclear power plant project

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Meldonian, N.L.; Santos, E.M. dos

    1992-01-01

    This work describes different aspects and parameters that should be regarded as guidelines for economic evaluation of small and medium power plant projects. The main objective of an economic evaluation is to establish the plant's unitary cost and its economic figure of merit. To achieve that, a number of studies must be undertaken to compare the global competitiveness of a nuclear power plant with other energetic alternatives. These studies involve macro economy, energy generation, electricity transmission and global feasibility of the enterprise. It is concluded that the economic evaluation of a nuclear power plant should be considered as the culmination of a long process of planning at a national level. The main reasons are the investments involved, the technological developments required and political implications of the utilization of nuclear power energy. (author)

  6. Heterozygote deficits in cyst plant-parasitic nematodes: possible causes and consequences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Montarry, Josselin; Jan, Pierre-Loup; Gracianne, Cecile; Overall, Andrew D J; Bardou-Valette, Sylvie; Olivier, Eric; Fournet, Sylvain; Grenier, Eric; Petit, Eric J

    2015-04-01

    Deviations of genotypic frequencies from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) expectations could reveal important aspects of the biology of populations. Deviations from HWE due to heterozygote deficits have been recorded for three plant-parasitic nematode species. However, it has never been determined whether the observed deficits were due (i) to the presence of null alleles, (ii) to a high level of consanguinity and/or (iii) to a Wahlund effect. The aim of the present work was, while taking into the possible confounding effect of null alleles, to disentangle consanguinity and Wahlund effect in natural populations of those three economically important cyst nematodes using microsatellite markers: Globodera pallida, G. tabacum and Heterodera schachtii, pests of potato, tobacco and sugar beet, respectively. The results show a consistent pattern of heterozygote deficiency in the three nematode species sampled at the spatial scale of the host plant. We demonstrate that the prevalence of null alleles is weak and that heterozygote deficits do not have a single origin. Our results suggested that it is restricted dispersal that leads to heterozygote deficits through both consanguinity and substructure, which effects can be linked to soil movement, cyst density, and the number of generations per year. We discuss potential implications for the durability of plant resistances that are used to protect crops against parasites in which mating between relatives occur. While consanguineous mating leads to homozygosity at all loci, including loci governing avirulence/virulence, which favours the expression of virulence when recessive, the Wahlund effect is expected to have no particular effect on the adaptation of nematodes to resistances. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Fulltext PDF

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Human Significance: Nearly 30 fungal diseases affect rice in. India. Of these, blast is .... [3] William E Fry, Principles of plant disease management, Academic Press,. Florida, p.2, 1982. ... pure talent on a scale from 0 to 100. Hardy gave himself ...

  8. Where are the tropical plants? A call for better inclusion of tropical plants in studies investigating and predicting the effects of climate change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kenneth J Feeley

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Tropical plant species are systematically underrepresented in large-scale analyses or synthesis looking at the potential effects of global climate change.  The reason being that we simply don’t know enough about the distributions and ecologies of most tropical plant species to predict their fate under climate change. This gaping hole in our knowledge is extremely worrisome given the high diversity of tropical plants, the crucial roles that they play in supporting global diversity and ecosystem function, and the elevated threats that climate change may pose to tropical species in general.  

  9. Defense AT and L. Volume 28, Number 3, 2009

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-01-01

    As a result, DLA has been de- veloping strong work/life programs. Many of DLA’s global facilities have fi tness centers, and the agency encourages...judges were Karen Barley, president and co-founder of Corporate University Enterprise Inc.; Robert Mosher, global chief learning and strategy...capabilities technology off ers and to extend their distance learning media. Dr. Chris Hardy, director of the DAU eLearning and Tech- nology Center, is

  10. Climate. Meeting the challenge of global warming

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masson-Delmotte, Valerie; Mann, Michael; Greene, Charles; Salas y Melia, David; Dufresne, Jean-Louis; Journe, Venance; Guegan, Jean-Francois; ); Bopp, Laurent; Magnan, Alexandre; Gattuso, Jean-Pierre; Bally, Rene; Duponnois, Robin; Giodda, Alain; MOATTI, JEAN-PAUL; Recio, Carlos; Santana, Luis; Hulot, Nicolas; Criqui, Patrick; Meritet, Sophie; Jacobson, Mark; Delucchi, Mark; Julliard, Romain; Balibar, Sebastien; Prevot, Anne-Caroline; Colleony, Agathe; Mangin, Loic

    2015-01-01

    The contributions of this publication first discuss and comment the cost of inaction in front of global warming. The authors deny the existence of a climate pause, explain the existence of harsh winters in Europe in the context of global warming, outline that models developed and used in the 1960 already predicted the present trend, discuss the complex relationships between climate change and health, outline the threats on the oceans (acidification, impact on marine species, level rise) and consequently on mankind. A second set of contributions addresses opportunities to be implemented now: to plant trees along the Sahara, the example of an ecologic island (El Hierro, Canaries Islands), the commitment of communities, associations and citizens, the necessary energy transition, innovation at the service of climate, the role of finances and investments. The third set of contributions addresses perspectives: to do without fossil energies, how to reduce the impact of global warming in cities (by planting trees and closing shutters), the emergence of participative science, arguments against climate sceptics, a difficult change of behaviours

  11. Global climate change: Implications, challenges, and mitigation measures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Majumdar, S.K.

    1992-01-01

    This book presents a perspective of the potential problem of global climate change induced by human activity. The editors have presented viewpoints of experts (advocates and skeptics) representing the issues of climate change. Possible results from long-term global change discussed in this book include mass migrations of plants and animals; changes in crop yields; flood and drought; and economic, political, and cultural changes. The text contains 20 chapters on the impact of global climate change and 10 chapters on the mitigation of effects and policy development

  12. The COMPADRE Plant Matrix Database

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Salguero-Gomez, Roberto; Jones, Owen; Archer, C. Ruth

    2015-01-01

    growth or decline, such data furthermore help us understand how different biomes shape plant ecology, how plant populations and communities respond to global change, and how to develop successful management tools for endangered or invasive species. 2. Matrix population models summarize the life cycle......1. Schedules of survival, growth and reproduction are key life history traits. Data on how these traits vary among species and populations are fundamental to our understanding of the ecological conditions that have shaped plant evolution. Because these demographic schedules determine population...

  13. Soil bacterial community responses to global changes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergmark, Lasse

    competing and very contrasting plant types (Calluna and Deschampsia) dominated the vegetation. This led to Manuscript 3 where the impact and responses of the climate change manipulations on the microbial community composition was investigated under the contrasting vegetation types. Our results show a high......Soil bacteria and archaea are essential for ecosystem functioning and plant growth through their degradation of organic matter and turnover of nutrients. But since the majority of soil bacteria and archaea are unclassified and “nonculturable” the functionality of the microbial community and its...... overall importance for ecosystem function in soil is poorly understood. Global change factors may affect the diversity and functioning of soil prokaryotes and thereby ecosystem functioning. To gain a better understanding of the effects of global changes it is of fundamental importance to classify...

  14. Terrestrial plant methane production and emission

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bruhn, Dan; Møller, Ian M.; Mikkelsen, Teis Nørgaard

    2012-01-01

    In this minireview, we evaluate all experimental work published on the phenomenon of aerobic methane (CH4) generation in terrestrial plants and plant. Clearly, despite much uncertainty and skepticism, we conclude that the phenomenon is true. Four stimulating factors have been observed to induce...... aerobic CH4 into a global budget is inadequate. Thus it is too early to draw the line under the aerobic methane emission in plants. Future work is needed for establishing the relative contribution of several proven potential CH4 precursors in plant material....

  15. Plant water use efficiency over geological time--evolution of leaf stomata configurations affecting plant gas exchange.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Assouline, Shmuel; Or, Dani

    2013-01-01

    Plant gas exchange is a key process shaping global hydrological and carbon cycles and is often characterized by plant water use efficiency (WUE - the ratio of CO2 gain to water vapor loss). Plant fossil record suggests that plant adaptation to changing atmospheric CO2 involved correlated evolution of stomata density (d) and size (s), and related maximal aperture, amax . We interpreted the fossil record of s and d correlated evolution during the Phanerozoic to quantify impacts on gas conductance affecting plant transpiration, E, and CO2 uptake, A, independently, and consequently, on plant WUE. A shift in stomata configuration from large s-low d to small s-high d in response to decreasing atmospheric CO2 resulted in large changes in plant gas exchange characteristics. The relationships between gas conductance, gws , A and E and maximal relative transpiring leaf area, (amax ⋅d), exhibited hysteretic-like behavior. The new WUE trend derived from independent estimates of A and E differs from established WUE-CO2 trends for atmospheric CO2 concentrations exceeding 1,200 ppm. In contrast with a nearly-linear decrease in WUE with decreasing CO2 obtained by standard methods, the newly estimated WUE trend exhibits remarkably stable values for an extended geologic period during which atmospheric CO2 dropped from 3,500 to 1,200 ppm. Pending additional tests, the findings may affect projected impacts of increased atmospheric CO2 on components of the global hydrological cycle.

  16. Dominance hierarchies, diversity and species richness of vascular plants in an alpine meadow: contrasting short and medium term responses to simulated global change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juha M. Alatalo

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available We studied the impact of simulated global change on a high alpine meadow plant community. Specifically, we examined whether short-term (5 years responses are good predictors for medium-term (7 years changes in the system by applying a factorial warming and nutrient manipulation to 20 plots in Latnjajaure, subarctic Sweden. Seven years of experimental warming and nutrient enhancement caused dramatic shifts in dominance hierarchies in response to the nutrient and the combined warming and nutrient enhancement treatments. Dominance hierarchies in the meadow moved from a community being dominated by cushion plants, deciduous, and evergreen shrubs to a community being dominated by grasses, sedges, and forbs. Short-term responses were shown to be inconsistent in their ability to predict medium-term responses for most functional groups, however, grasses showed a consistent and very substantial increase in response to nutrient addition over the seven years. The non-linear responses over time point out the importance of longer-term studies with repeated measurements to be able to better predict future changes. Forecasted changes to temperature and nutrient availability have implications for trophic interactions, and may ultimately influence the access to and palatability of the forage for grazers. Depending on what anthropogenic change will be most pronounced in the future (increase in nutrient deposits, warming, or a combination of them both, different shifts in community dominance hierarchies may occur. Generally, this study supports the productivity–diversity relationship found across arctic habitats, with community diversity peaking in mid-productivity systems and degrading as nutrient availability increases further. This is likely due the increasing competition in plant–plant interactions and the shifting dominance structure with grasses taking over the experimental plots, suggesting that global change could have high costs to biodiversity in the

  17. Linking plant nutritional status to plant-microbe interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvalhais, Lilia C; Dennis, Paul G; Fan, Ben; Fedoseyenko, Dmitri; Kierul, Kinga; Becker, Anke; von Wiren, Nicolaus; Borriss, Rainer

    2013-01-01

    Plants have developed a wide-range of adaptations to overcome nutrient limitation, including changes to the quantity and composition of carbon-containing compounds released by roots. Root-associated bacteria are largely influenced by these compounds which can be perceived as signals or substrates. Here, we evaluate the effect of root exudates collected from maize plants grown under nitrogen (N), phosphate (P), iron (Fe) and potassium (K) deficiencies on the transcriptome of the plant growth promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42. The largest shifts in gene expression patterns were observed in cells exposed to exudates from N-, followed by P-deficient plants. Exudates from N-deprived maize triggered a general stress response in FZB42 in the exponential growth phase, which was evidenced by the suppression of numerous genes involved in protein synthesis. Exudates from P-deficient plants induced bacterial genes involved in chemotaxis and motility whilst exudates released by Fe and K deficient plants did not cause dramatic changes in the bacterial transcriptome during exponential growth phase. Global transcriptional changes in bacteria elicited by nutrient deficient maize exudates were significantly correlated with concentrations of the amino acids aspartate, valine and glutamate in root exudates suggesting that transcriptional profiling of FZB42 associated with metabolomics of N, P, Fe and K-deficient maize root exudates is a powerful approach to better understand plant-microbe interactions under conditions of nutritional stress.

  18. Climate resilient crops for improving global food security and safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhankher, Om Parkash; Foyer, Christine H

    2018-05-01

    Food security and the protection of the environment are urgent issues for global society, particularly with the uncertainties of climate change. Changing climate is predicted to have a wide range of negative impacts on plant physiology metabolism, soil fertility and carbon sequestration, microbial activity and diversity that will limit plant growth and productivity, and ultimately food production. Ensuring global food security and food safety will require an intensive research effort across the food chain, starting with crop production and the nutritional quality of the food products. Much uncertainty remains concerning the resilience of plants, soils, and associated microbes to climate change. Intensive efforts are currently underway to improve crop yields with lower input requirements and enhance the sustainability of yield through improved biotic and abiotic stress tolerance traits. In addition, significant efforts are focused on gaining a better understanding of the root/soil interface and associated microbiomes, as well as enhancing soil properties. © 2018 The Authors Plant, Cell & Environment Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Ornamental Plant Breeding

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Flávia Barbosa Silva Botelho

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available World’s ornamental plant market, including domestic market of several countries and its exports, is currently evaluated in 107 billion dollars yearly. Such estimate highlights the importance of the sector in the economy of the countries, as well as its important social role, as it represents one of the main activities, which contributes to income and employment. Therefore a well-structured plant breeding program, which is connected with consumers’ demands, is required in order to fulfill these market needs globally. Activities related to pre-breeding, conventional breeding, and breeding by biotechnological techniques constitute the basis for the successful development of new ornamental plant cultivars. Techniques that involve tissue culture, protoplast fusion and genetic engineering greatly aid conventional breeding (germplasm introduction, plant selection and hybridization, aiming the obtention of superior genotypes. Therefore it makes evident, in the literature, the successful employment of genetic breeding, since it aims to develop plants with commercial value that are also competitive with the ones available in the market.

  20. Plant diversity in a changing world: Status, trends, and conservation needs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Richard T. Corlett

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The conservation of plants has not generated the sense of urgency—or the funding—that drives the conservation of animals, although plants are far more important for us. There are an estimated 500,000 species of land plants (angiosperms, gymnosperms, ferns, lycophytes, and bryophytes, with diversity strongly concentrated in the humid tropics. Many species are still unknown to science. Perhaps a third of all land plants are at risk of extinction, including many that are undescribed, or are described but otherwise data deficient. There have been few known global extinctions so far, but many additional species have not been recorded recently and may be extinct. Although only a minority of plant species have a specific human use, many more play important roles in natural ecosystems and the services they provide, and rare species are more likely to have unusual traits that could be useful in the future. The major threats to plant diversity include habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation, overexploitation, invasive species, pollution, and anthropogenic climate change. Conservation of plant diversity is a massive task if viewed globally, but the combination of a well-designed and well-managed protected area system and ex situ gap-filling and back-up should work anywhere. The most urgent needs are for the completion of the global botanical inventory and an assessment of the conservation status of the 94% of plant species not yet evaluated, so that both in and ex situ conservation can be targeted efficiently. Globally, the biggest conservation gap is in the hyperdiverse lowland tropics and this is where attention needs to be focused.

  1. Mutation breeding of vegetatively propagated turf and forage Bermuda grass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burton, G.W.; Hanna, W.W.

    1982-01-01

    Tifgreen, Tifway and Tifdwarf, sterile triploid (2n = 27)F 1 hybrids between Cynodon dactylon and C. transvaalensis, are widely used turf grasses bred at Tifton, Georgia. They cannot be improved by conventional breeding methods. Attempts to improve them by treating short dormant rhizome sections with EMS failed but exposing them to 7-9 kR of gamma radiation produced 158 mutants. These have been evaluated at Tifton, and Beltsville, Maryland, and nine that appear to be better than the parents in one or more characteristics were planted in 8 x 10 m plots in triplicate in 1977. Test results to date suggest that one or more of these will be good enough to warrant a name and release to the public. Coastcross-1 is an outstanding sterile F 1 hybrid Bermuda grass that gives 35% more beef per acre but lacks winter hardiness. Since 1971, several million sprigs of Coastcross-1 have been exposed to 7 kR and have been planted and screened for winter survival at the Georgia Mountain Experiment Station. Chlorophyll-deficient mutants have appeared and one mutant slightly, but significantly, more winter hardy than Coastcross-1 has been obtained. Sprigs of this mutant named Coastcross 1-M3 are being irradiated and screened in an attempt to increase its winter hardiness. (author)

  2. MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaudhary, V. Bala; Rúa, Megan A.; Antoninka, Anita; Bever, James D.; Cannon, Jeffery; Craig, Ashley; Duchicela, Jessica; Frame, Alicia; Gardes, Monique; Gehring, Catherine; Ha, Michelle; Hart, Miranda; Hopkins, Jacob; Ji, Baoming; Johnson, Nancy Collins; Kaonongbua, Wittaya; Karst, Justine; Koide, Roger T.; Lamit, Louis J.; Meadow, James; Milligan, Brook G.; Moore, John C.; Pendergast, Thomas H., IV; Piculell, Bridget; Ramsby, Blake; Simard, Suzanne; Shrestha, Shubha; Umbanhowar, James; Viechtbauer, Wolfgang; Walters, Lawrence; Wilson, Gail W. T.; Zee, Peter C.; Hoeksema, Jason D.

    2016-05-01

    Plants form belowground associations with mycorrhizal fungi in one of the most common symbioses on Earth. However, few large-scale generalizations exist for the structure and function of mycorrhizal symbioses, as the nature of this relationship varies from mutualistic to parasitic and is largely context-dependent. We announce the public release of MycoDB, a database of 4,010 studies (from 438 unique publications) to aid in multi-factor meta-analyses elucidating the ecological and evolutionary context in which mycorrhizal fungi alter plant productivity. Over 10 years with nearly 80 collaborators, we compiled data on the response of plant biomass to mycorrhizal fungal inoculation, including meta-analysis metrics and 24 additional explanatory variables that describe the biotic and abiotic context of each study. We also include phylogenetic trees for all plants and fungi in the database. To our knowledge, MycoDB is the largest ecological meta-analysis database. We aim to share these data to highlight significant gaps in mycorrhizal research and encourage synthesis to explore the ecological and evolutionary generalities that govern mycorrhizal functioning in ecosystems.

  3. Reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from global dairy processing facilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xu Tengfang, E-mail: ttxu@lbl.go [International Energy Studies Group, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Flapper, Joris [International Energy Studies Group, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Centre for Energy and Environmental Studies, University of Groningen, IVEM, Nijenborgh 4, 9747, AG Groningen (Netherlands)

    2011-01-15

    Global butter, concentrated milk, and milk powder products use approximately 15% of annual raw milk production. Similar to cheese and fluid milk, dairy processing of these products can be energy intensive. In this paper, we analyzed production and energy data compiled through extensive literature reviews on butter, concentrated milk, milk and whey powder processing across various countries and plants. Magnitudes of national final and primary specific energy consumption (SEC) exhibited large variations across dairy products; in addition, the final SEC of individual plants and products exhibited significant variations within a country and between countries. Furthermore, we quantified national energy intensity indicators (EIIs) accounting for dairy product mixes and technological advancement. The significant variations of SEC and EII values indicate a high degree of likelihood that there is significant potential for energy savings in the global dairy processing industry. Based upon the study samples, we estimate potential energy savings for dairy processing industry in selected countries, and estimates annual reduction of 9-14 million metric-ton carbon-equivalent could be achieved if measures are implemented to lower SEC values by 50-80% in half of global dairy plants. The paper calls for publication of more energy data from the dairy processing industry. - Research highlights: {yields} The specific energy consumption exhibited large variations across dairy products, plants, and countries. {yields} National energy intensity indicators also exhibited significant variations. {yields} There is a large global potential for energy savings and carbon reduction in dairy processing plants. {yields} The paper calls for publication of more energy data from the dairy processing industry.

  4. Color vision deficiency compensation for Visual Processing Disorder using Hardy-Rand-Rittler test and color transformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balbin, Jessie R.; Pinugu, Jasmine Nadja J.; Bautista, Joshua Ian C.; Nebres, Pauline D.; Rey Hipolito, Cipriano M.; Santella, Jose Anthony A.

    2017-06-01

    Visual processing skill is used to gather visual information from environment however, there are cases that Visual Processing Disorder (VPD) occurs. The so called visual figure-ground discrimination is a type of VPD where color is one of the factors that contributes on this type. In line with this, color plays a vital role in everyday living, but individuals that have limited and inaccurate color perception suffers from Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) and still not aware on their case. To resolve this case, this study focuses on the design of KULAY, a Head-Mounted Display (HMD) device that can assess whether a user has a CVD or not thru the standard Hardy-Rand-Rittler (HRR) test. This test uses pattern recognition in order to evaluate the user. In addition, color vision deficiency simulation and color correction thru color transformation is also a concern of this research. This will enable people with normal color vision to know how color vision deficient perceives and vice-versa. For the accuracy of the simulated HRR assessment, its results were validated thru an actual assessment done by a doctor. Moreover, for the preciseness of color transformation, Structural Similarity Index Method (SSIM) was used to compare the simulated CVD images and the color corrected images to other reference sources. The output of the simulated HRR assessment and color transformation shows very promising results indicating effectiveness and efficiency of the study. Thus, due to its form factor and portability, this device is beneficial in the field of medicine and technology.

  5. Global development of advanced nuclear power plants, and related IAEA activities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-09-01

    Renewed interest in the potential of nuclear energy to contribute to a sustainable worldwide energy mix is underlining the IAEA's statutory role in fostering the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, in particular the need for effective exchanges of information and collaborative research and technology development among Member States on advanced nuclear power technologies deployable in the near term as well as in the longer term. For applications in the medium to longer term, with rising expectations for the role of nuclear energy in the future, technological innovation has become a strong focus of nuclear power technology developments by many Member States. To meet Member States' needs, the IAEA conducts activities to foster information exchange and collaborative research and development in the area of advanced nuclear reactor technologies. These activities include coordination of collaborative research, organization of international information exchange, and analyses of globally available technical data and results, with a focus on reducing nuclear power plant capital costs and construction periods while further improving performance, safety and proliferation resistance. In other activities, evolutionary and innovative advances are catalyzed for all reactor lines such as advanced water cooled reactors, high temperature gas cooled reactors, liquid metal cooled reactors and accelerator driven systems, including small and medium sized reactors. In addition, there are activities related to other applications of nuclear energy such as seawater desalination, hydrogen production, and other process heat applications. This brochure summarizes the worldwide status and the activities related to advanced nuclear power technology development and related IAEA activities. It includes a list of the collaborative research and development projects conducted by the IAEA, as well as of the status reports and other publications produced

  6. Global, regional, and national consumption levels of dietary fats and oils in 1990 and 2010

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Micha, Renata; Khatibzadeh, Shahab; Shi, Peilin

    2014-01-01

    at older ages. Intakes were similar by sex. Between 1990 and 2010, global saturated fat, dietary cholesterol, and trans fat intakes remained stable, while omega 6, seafood omega 3, and plant omega 3 fat intakes each increased. CONCLUSIONS: These novel global data on dietary fats and oils identify dramatic......OBJECTIVES: To quantify global consumption of key dietary fats and oils by country, age, and sex in 1990 and 2010. DESIGN: Data were identified, obtained, and assessed among adults in 16 age- and sex-specific groups from dietary surveys worldwide on saturated, omega 6, seafood omega 3, plant omega....../day (228 mg/day) for dietary cholesterol; 5 to 3,886 mg/day (163 mg/day) for seafood omega 3; and plant omega 3. Countries representing 52.4% of the global population had national mean intakes for omega 6 fat ≥ 5%E; corresponding proportions meeting optimal intakes...

  7. Public-Private Partnerships in Plant Genomics for Global Food

    International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

    Ina

    2012-06-06

    Jun 6, 2012 ... revolution in the way we approach the science of crop im- provement. ... to transition its emphasis from generation of sequence data ...... genetic markers for Ug99 stem rust. 2009- ..... Plant Cell Physiology 52(12): 2017-2038.

  8. Baixa prevalência de discromatopsia, pela 4ª edição do teste pseudoisocromático HRR (Hardy, Rand e Rittler), da população indígena de etnia terena da aldeia lalima na região de Miranda: Mato Grosso do Sul Low prevalence of dyschromatopsia using the fourth edition of HRR (Hardy, Rand and Rittler) pseudoisochromatic plate test among the Indian population of Lalima village, Terena

    OpenAIRE

    Marcos Rogério Mistro Piccinin; Juliana Ferrari Cunha; Herbert Paulo de Almeida; Cleiton Cassio Bach; Andréa Cristina Grubits Gonçalves de Oliveira Dossa; Reinaldo Ferreira da Silva; Valdir Filgueiras Pessoa

    2007-01-01

    OBJETIVO: Avaliar a freqüência de discromatopsias através da 4ª edição do teste pseudoisocromático HRR (Hardy, Rand and Rittler) entre a população indígena masculina da aldeia Lalima, etnia Terena, na região de Miranda-MS. MÉTODOS: Foram realizadas viagens à aldeia Lalima em Miranda-MS, nos meses de janeiro e fevereiro de 2005. As viagens para realizar os exames só foram iniciadas após o projeto ter sido avaliado e aprovado pelos Comitê de Ética e Pesquisa da UFMS, Comitê Nacional de Ética e ...

  9. Alarming plant dieback in the Outeniquas : is this an indication of global warming? Monitoring plant populations

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Rebelo, T

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available for the Outeniquas do predict increased precipitation in summer. But we don’t know. Only in 20 years will we be able to look back and decide. At this stage it is safer to claim that the plants responded markedly to the exceptional weather conditions. Whether... these weather conditions are indicative of climate changes to come only time will tell. But it is only by documenting the responses of plants to these extreme events that we will get a clear idea of what might happen as our climate changes. Then we...

  10. Discourse analysis and its uses in organizational studies: a study of quotation contexts of Phillips, Lawrence e Hardy (2004 [doi: 10.21529/RECADM.2016004

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Samir Adamoglu de Oliveira

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available This work has as goal to evaluate how the paper of Phillips, Lawrence and Hardy (2004 and their discourse analysis model has been appropriated in the Organizational Studies field. Using a bibliometric measure of quoters and the qualitative analysis of quotation context, this paper describes: (i the way it was applied empirically in researches, (ii to what study objects it was applied, (iii in which thematic areas it was used, and (iv its repercussion among different theoretical slopes that have used the analytical model. As it was one of the first works to consider the possibility of a discourse analysis within the organizational studies using institutionalism, after 10 years of the publication, the results show perennial as a meta-theoretical base to discuss the theme. Considering those, the present paper proposes a theoretical-methodological model to conduct future discussions about the discourse role in the (reproduction of institutional web.   Keywords Discourse analysis; Discourse; Institutions; Quotation contexts.

  11. GRIN-Global: An International Project to Develop a Global Plant Genebank and Information Management System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Many of the world's national genebanks, responsible for the safeguarding and availability of their country's Plant Genetic Resource (PGR) collections, have lacked access to high quality IT needed to document and manage their collections electronically. The Germplasm Resource Information System (GRI...

  12. Application of digital solutions to help the safe and efficient operation of nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ortega P, F.; Fernandez F, S.

    2017-09-01

    In the search for excellence, the emergence of solutions to digitize nuclear power plants is an opportunity to optimize the operation and safety of them. The new technologies available today in the market, applied under a global vision of the operation, can contribute to the excellent operation of nuclear power plants in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. Tecnatom has a long experience in various areas related to the operation of the plants, giving the aforementioned global vision, essential to develop global solutions that pursue the safe and efficient operation of the operation. (Author)

  13. Potential Responses of Vascular Plants from the Pristine "Lost World" of the Neotropical Guayana Highlands to Global Warming: Review and New Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rull, Valentí; Vegas-Vilarrúbia, Teresa

    2017-01-01

    The neotropical Guayana Highlands (GH) are one of the few remaining pristine environments on Earth, and they host amazing biodiversity with a high degree endemism, especially among vascular plants. Despite the lack of direct human disturbance, GH plants and their communities are threatened with extinction from habitat loss due to global warming (GW). Geographic information systems simulations involving the entire known vascular GH flora (>2430 species) predict potential GW-driven extinctions on the order of 80% by the end of this century, including nearly half of the endemic species. These estimates and the assessment of an environmental impact value for each species led to the hierarchization of plants by their risk of habitat loss and the definition of priority conservation categories. However, the predictions assume that all species will respond to GW by migrating upward and at equal rates, which is unlikely, so current estimates should be considered preliminary and incomplete (although they represent the best that can be done with the existing information). Other potential environmental forcings (i.e., precipitation shifts, an increase in the atmospheric CO 2 concentration) and idiosyncratic plant responses (i.e., resistance, phenotypic acclimation, rapid evolution) should also be considered, so detailed eco-physiological studies of the more threatened species are urgently needed. The main obstacles to developing such studies are the remoteness and inaccessibility of the GH and, especially, the difficulty in obtaining official permits for fieldwork.

  14. Can global warming save nuclear power?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pearce, D.

    1994-01-01

    Nuclear powered electricity generation in the United Kingdom has an uncertain future. The relative costs of generating electricity by nuclear fission compared to other means and the need for a desirable mixture or ''portfolio'' of energy sources in the electricity industry are identified as the key to this uncertainty. The author argues that Government commitments to reducing Carbon Monoxide (CO) emissions, and hence global warming, may strengthen arguments in favour of a firm commitment to nuclear power, as even modern fossil-fuelled power plants emit nearly 90 times as much CO as nuclear plants. (UK)

  15. Overexpression of a peach CBF gene in apple: a model for understanding the integration of growth, dormancy, and cold hardiness in woody plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    The timing of cold acclimation and de-acclimation, dormancy, and bud break play an integral role in the life cycle of woody plants. The molecular events that regulate these parameters have been the subject of much study, however, in most studies these events have been investigated independently of ...

  16. Repetitive Reaction and Restitution (R3) induction of drought hardiness in conifer container seedlings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jol Hodgson

    2011-01-01

    Planting failures are often attributed to unexpectedly harsh conditions after planting. Characterization of soil water at the planting site, along with associated influences of site preparation and soil texture, is recommended. Additionally, tree planting technique and seedling biology should be targeted to site conditions. A nursery regime for induction of drought...

  17. Global patterns in post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and vertebrates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peco, Begoña; Laffan, Shawn W; Moles, Angela T

    2014-01-01

    It is commonly accepted that species interactions such as granivory are more intense in the tropics. However, this has rarely been tested. A global dataset of post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and vertebrates for 79 native plant species from semi-natural and natural terrestrial habitats ranging from 55° N to 45° S, was compiled from the global literature to test the hypothesis that post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and vertebrates is more intense at lower latitudes. We also quantified the relationship between post-dispersal seed removal by vertebrates and by invertebrates to global climatic features including temperature, actual evapotranspiration (AET) and rainfall seasonality. Linear mixed effect models were applied to describe the relationships between seed removal and latitude, hemisphere and climatic variables controlling for the effect of seed mass. Post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates was negatively related to latitude. In contrast, post-dispersal seed removal by vertebrates was positively but weakly related to latitude. Mean annual temperature and actual evapotranspiration were positively related to post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates, but not to post-dispersal seed removal by vertebrates, which was only marginally negatively related to rainfall seasonality. The inclusion of seed mass improved the fit of all models, but the term for seed mass was not significant in any model. Although a good climatic model for predicting post-dispersal seed predation by vertebrates at the global level was not found, our results suggest different and opposite latitudinal patterns of post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates vs vertebrates. This is the first time that a negative relationship between post-dispersal seed removal by invertebrates and latitude, and a positive relationship with temperature and AET have been documented at a global-scale. These results have important implications for understanding global patterns in plant

  18. Harnessing the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Nekky Umera

    used to promote benefit sharing and conversation of plant genetic resources particularly in ... and Government at the World Food Summit agreed on a global plan of action ... the sustainable use of plant genetic resources by providing a flexible.

  19. Quantifying progress toward a conservation assessment for all plants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bachman, Steven P; Nic Lughadha, Eimear M; Rivers, Malin C

    2018-06-01

    The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) set an ambitious target to achieve a conservation assessment for all known plant species by 2020. We consolidated digitally available plant conservation assessments and reconciled their scientific names and assessment status to predefined standards to provide a quantitative measure of progress toward this target. The 241,919 plant conservation assessments generated represent 111,824 accepted land plant species (vascular plants and bryophytes, not algae). At least 73,081 and up to 90,321 species have been assessed at the global scale, representing 21-26% of known plant species. Of these plant species, at least 27,148 and up to 32,542 are threatened. Eighty plant families, including some of the largest, such as Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, and Rubiaceae, are underassessed and should be the focus of assessment effort if the GSPC target is to be met by 2020. Our data set is accessible online (ThreatSearch) and is a baseline that can be used to directly support other GSPC targets and plant conservation action. Although around one-quarter of a million plant assessments have been compiled, the majority of plants are still unassessed. The challenge now is to build on this progress and redouble efforts to document conservation status of unassessed plants to better inform conservation decisions and conserve the most threatened species. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

  20. Global analysis of a renewable micro hydro power generation plant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Md. Shad; Nabil, Imtiaz Muhammed; Alam, M. Mahbubul

    2017-12-01

    Hydroelectric power or Hydropower means the power generated by the help of flowing water with force. It is one the best source of renewable energy in the world. Water evaporates from the earth's surface, forms clouds, precipitates back to earth, and flows toward the ocean. Hydropower is considered a renewable energy resource because it uses the earth's water cycle to generate electricity. As far as Global is concerned, only a small fraction of electricity is generated by hydro-power. The aim of our analysis is to demonstrate and observe the hydropower of the Globe in micro-scale by our experimental setup which is completely new in concept. This paper consists of all the Global and National Scenario of Hydropower. And how we can more emphasize the generation of Hydroelectric power worldwide.

  1. Global Land Carbon Uptake from Trait Distributions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, E. E.; Datta, A.; Flores-Moreno, H.; Fazayeli, F.; Chen, M.; Wythers, K. R.; Banerjee, A.; Atkin, O. K.; Kattge, J.; Reich, P. B.

    2016-12-01

    Historically, functional diversity in land surface models has been represented through a range of plant functional types (PFTs), each of which has a single value for all of its functional traits. Here we expand the diversity of the land surface by using a distribution of trait values for each PFT. The data for these trait distributions is from a sub-set of the global database of plant traits, TRY, and this analysis uses three leaf traits: mass based nitrogen and phosphorus content and specific leaf area, which influence both photosynthesis and respiration. The data are extrapolated into continuous surfaces through two methodologies. The first, a categorical method, classifies the species observed in TRY into satellite estimates of their plant functional type abundances - analogous to how traits are currently assigned to PFTs in land surface models. Second, a Bayesian spatial method which additionally estimates how the distribution of a trait changes in accord with both climate and soil covariates. These two methods produce distinct patterns of diversity which are incorporated into a land surface model to estimate how the range of trait values affects the global land carbon budget.

  2. Perspectives of nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vajda, Gy.

    2001-01-01

    In several countries the construction of nuclear power plants has been stopped, and in some counties several plants have been decommissioned or are planned to. Therefore, the question arises: have nuclear power plants any future? According to the author, the question should be reformulated: can mankind survive without nuclear power? To examine this challenge, the global power demand and its trends are analyzed. According to the results, traditional energy sources cannot be adequate to supply power. Therefore, a reconsideration of nuclear power should be imminent. The economic, environmental attractions are discussed as opposite to the lack of social support. (R.P.)

  3. The role of plant water relations in achieving and maintaining the target seedling

    Science.gov (United States)

    John G. Mexal; Nabil Khadduri

    2011-01-01

    Water management is one of the most important factors in achieving the target seedling. Water is required for cell growth, nutrient transport, cooling through transpiration, and in small amounts for the photosynthetic reaction. Furthermore, judicious use of limiting water availability during the hardening phase can induce budset and increase seedling cold hardiness....

  4. Potential implications for expansion of freeze-tolerant eucalyptus plantations on water resources in the southern United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    James M. Vose; Chelcy F. Miniat; Ge Sun; Peter V. Caldwell

    2014-01-01

    The potential expansion of freeze-tolerant (FT) Eucalyptus plantations in the United States has raised concerns about the implications for water resources. Modeling was used to examine the potential effects of expanding the distribution of FT Eucalyptus plantations in US Department of Agriculture Plant Hardiness Zones 8b and...

  5. Isolation and Characterization of Eleven Polymorphic Microsatellite Loci for the Valuable Medicinal Plant Dendrobium huoshanense and Cross-Species Amplification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hui; Chen, Nai-Fu; Zheng, Ji-Yang; Wang, Wen-Cai; Pei, Yun-Yun; Zhu, Guo-Ping

    2012-01-01

    Dendrobium huoshanense (Orchidaceae) is a perennial herb and a widely used medicinal plant in Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) endemic to Huoshan County town in Anhui province in Southeast China. A microsatellite-enriched genomic DNA library of D. huoshanense was developed and screened to identify marker loci. Eleven polymorphic loci were isolated and analyzed by screening 25 individuals collected from a natural population. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 5. The observed and expected heterozygosities ranged from 0.227 to 0.818 and from 0.317 to 0.757, respectively. Two loci showed significant deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and four of the pairwise comparisons of loci revealed linkage disequilibrium (p < 0.05). These microsatellite loci were cross-amplified for five congeneric species and seven loci can be amplified in all species. These simple sequence repeats (SSR) markers are useful in genetic studies of D. huoshanense and other related species and in conservation decision-making. PMID:23222682

  6. Growing Greener Cities: A Tree-Planting Handbook.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moll, Gary; Young, Stanley

    This step-by-step guide, developed by the Global ReLeaf organization, presents tree-planting advice and simple steps to organizing a successful community tree-planting and tree-care program. The text is divided into three parts. Part 1 introduces trees and discusses the role they play as components of the living urban environment. Distinctions are…

  7. A global comparison of the nutritive values of forage plants grown in contrasting environments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Mark A

    2018-03-17

    Forage plants are valuable because they maintain wild and domesticated herbivores, and sustain the delivery of meat, milk and other commodities. Forage plants contain different quantities of fibre, lignin, minerals and protein, and vary in the proportion of their tissue that can be digested by herbivores. These nutritive components are important determinants of consumer growth rates, reproductive success and behaviour. A dataset was compiled to quantify variation in forage plant nutritive values within- and between-plant species, and to assess variation between plant functional groups and bioclimatic zones. 1255 geo-located records containing 3774 measurements of nutritive values for 136 forage plant species grown in 30 countries were obtained from published articles. Spatial variability in forage nutritive values indicated that climate modified plant nutritive values. Forage plants grown in arid and equatorial regions generally contained less digestible material than those grown in temperate and tundra regions; containing more fibre and lignin, and less protein. These patterns may reveal why herbivore body sizes, digestion and migration strategies are different in warmer and drier regions. This dataset also revealed the capacity for variation in the nutrition provided by forage plants, which may drive consumer species coexistence. The proportion of the plant tissue that was digestible ranged between species from 2 to 91%. The amount of fibre contained within plant material ranged by 23-90%, protein by 2-36%, lignin by 1-21% and minerals by 2-22%. On average, grasses and tree foliage contained the most fibre, whilst herbaceous legumes contained the most protein and tree foliage contained the most lignin. However, there were individual species within each functional group that were highly nutritious. This dataset may be used to identify forage plant species or mixtures of species from different functional groups with useful nutritional traits which can be cultivated

  8. A new model of dynamic of plant biodiversity in changing farmlands ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    However, the relationship between plant diversity and disturbance gradient makes ... factors affecting herbs species diversity in the ecosystem to building a model. ... in conserving global biodiversity and maintaining global ecosystem function.

  9. Phosphorylation and proteome dynamics in pathogen-resistant tomato plants

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stulemeijer, I.J.E.

    2008-01-01

    Microbial plant pathogens impose a continuous threat on global food production. Similar to disease resistance in mammals, an innate immune system allows plants to recognise pathogens and swiftly activate defence. For the work described in this thesis, the interaction between tomato and the

  10. Plant invasions in mountains: global lessons for better management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Keith L. McDougall; Anzar A. Khuroo; Lloyd L. Loope; Catherine G. Parks; Anibal Pauchard; Zafar A. Reshi; Ian Rushworth; Christoph. Kueffer

    2011-01-01

    Mountains are one of few ecosystems little affected by plant invasions. However, the threat of invasion is likely to increase because of climate change, greater anthropogenic land use, and continuing novel introductions. Preventive management, therefore, will be crucial but can be difficult to promote when more pressing problems are unresolved and predictions are...

  11. Phosphorylation and proteome dynamics in pathogen-resistant tomato plants

    OpenAIRE

    Stulemeijer, I.J.E.

    2008-01-01

    Microbial plant pathogens impose a continuous threat on global food production. Similar to disease resistance in mammals, an innate immune system allows plants to recognise pathogens and swiftly activate defence. For the work described in this thesis, the interaction between tomato and the extracellular fungal pathogen Cladosporium fulvum serves as a model system to study host resistance and susceptibility in plant-pathogen interactions. Resistance to C. fulvum in tomato plants follows the ge...

  12. Defining a regional approach for invasive plant research and management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steven R. Radosevich; Bryan A. Endress; Catherine G. Parks

    2005-01-01

    Invasive plants are now recognized as a serious threat to most extensive management systems, such as forests, meadows, deserts, and riparian areas [1-3]. Vitousek et al. [3] described exotic plant invasion as a significant element of global environmental change because exotic plants can alter primary productivity, decomposition, hydrology, nutrient cycling, and natural...

  13. Enzymology under global change: organic nitrogen turnover in alpine and sub-Arctic soils

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weedon, J.T.; Aerts, R.; Kowalchuk, G.A.; van Bodegom, P.M.

    2011-01-01

    Understanding global change impacts on the globally important carbon storage in alpine, Arctic and sub-Arctic soils requires knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the balance between plant primary productivity and decomposition. Given that nitrogen availability limits both processes, understanding

  14. Enzymology under global change: organic nitrogen turnover in alpine and sub-Arctic soils.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Weedon, J.T.; Aerts, R.; Kowalchuk, G.A.; van Bodegom, P.M.

    2011-01-01

    Understanding global change impacts on the globally important carbon storage in alpine, Arctic and sub-Arctic soils requires knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the balance between plant primary productivity and decomposition. Given that nitrogen availability limits both processes, understanding

  15. Plant diversity surpasses plant functional groups and plant productivity as driver of soil biota in the long term.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nico Eisenhauer

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available One of the most significant consequences of contemporary global change is the rapid decline of biodiversity in many ecosystems. Knowledge of the consequences of biodiversity loss in terrestrial ecosystems is largely restricted to single ecosystem functions. Impacts of key plant functional groups on soil biota are considered to be more important than those of plant diversity; however, current knowledge mainly relies on short-term experiments.We studied changes in the impacts of plant diversity and presence of key functional groups on soil biota by investigating the performance of soil microorganisms and soil fauna two, four and six years after the establishment of model grasslands. The results indicate that temporal changes of plant community effects depend on the trophic affiliation of soil animals: plant diversity effects on decomposers only occurred after six years, changed little in herbivores, but occurred in predators after two years. The results suggest that plant diversity, in terms of species and functional group richness, is the most important plant community property affecting soil biota, exceeding the relevance of plant above- and belowground productivity and the presence of key plant functional groups, i.e. grasses and legumes, with the relevance of the latter decreasing in time.Plant diversity effects on biota are not only due to the presence of key plant functional groups or plant productivity highlighting the importance of diverse and high-quality plant derived resources, and supporting the validity of the singular hypothesis for soil biota. Our results demonstrate that in the long term plant diversity essentially drives the performance of soil biota questioning the paradigm that belowground communities are not affected by plant diversity and reinforcing the importance of biodiversity for ecosystem functioning.

  16. Global sensitivity analysis of DRAINMOD-FOREST, an integrated forest ecosystem model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiying Tian; Mohamed A. Youssef; Devendra M. Amatya; Eric D. Vance

    2014-01-01

    Global sensitivity analysis is a useful tool to understand process-based ecosystem models by identifying key parameters and processes controlling model predictions. This study reported a comprehensive global sensitivity analysis for DRAINMOD-FOREST, an integrated model for simulating water, carbon (C), and nitrogen (N) cycles and plant growth in lowland forests. The...

  17. Potential Responses of Vascular Plants from the Pristine “Lost World” of the Neotropical Guayana Highlands to Global Warming: Review and New Perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rull, Valentí; Vegas-Vilarrúbia, Teresa

    2017-01-01

    The neotropical Guayana Highlands (GH) are one of the few remaining pristine environments on Earth, and they host amazing biodiversity with a high degree endemism, especially among vascular plants. Despite the lack of direct human disturbance, GH plants and their communities are threatened with extinction from habitat loss due to global warming (GW). Geographic information systems simulations involving the entire known vascular GH flora (>2430 species) predict potential GW-driven extinctions on the order of 80% by the end of this century, including nearly half of the endemic species. These estimates and the assessment of an environmental impact value for each species led to the hierarchization of plants by their risk of habitat loss and the definition of priority conservation categories. However, the predictions assume that all species will respond to GW by migrating upward and at equal rates, which is unlikely, so current estimates should be considered preliminary and incomplete (although they represent the best that can be done with the existing information). Other potential environmental forcings (i.e., precipitation shifts, an increase in the atmospheric CO2 concentration) and idiosyncratic plant responses (i.e., resistance, phenotypic acclimation, rapid evolution) should also be considered, so detailed eco-physiological studies of the more threatened species are urgently needed. The main obstacles to developing such studies are the remoteness and inaccessibility of the GH and, especially, the difficulty in obtaining official permits for fieldwork. PMID:28179913

  18. 'USS Arizona' and 'USS California' tropical hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L.)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Both ‘USS Arizona’ and ‘USS California’ were selected for use as accent plants for patios, pools or other outside areas in climates with warm summers or as perennial flowering landscape shrubs in USDA hardiness zones 9 and 10. The cultivars were selected for their exceptional vibrant flowers, well-b...

  19. HANPP Collection: Global Patterns in Net Primary Productivity (NPP)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The Global Patterns in Net Primary Productivity (NPP) portion of the HANPP Collection maps the net amount of solar energy converted to plant organic matter through...

  20. Representing leaf and root physiological traits in CLM improves global carbon and nitrogen cycling predictions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghimire, Bardan; Riley, William J.; Koven, Charles D.; Mu, Mingquan; Randerson, James T.

    2016-06-01

    In many ecosystems, nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for plant growth and productivity. However, current Earth System Models (ESMs) do not mechanistically represent functional nitrogen allocation for photosynthesis or the linkage between nitrogen uptake and root traits. The current version of CLM (4.5) links nitrogen availability and plant productivity via (1) an instantaneous downregulation of potential photosynthesis rates based on soil mineral nitrogen availability, and (2) apportionment of soil nitrogen between plants and competing nitrogen consumers assumed to be proportional to their relative N demands. However, plants do not photosynthesize at potential rates and then downregulate; instead photosynthesis rates are governed by nitrogen that has been allocated to the physiological processes underpinning photosynthesis. Furthermore, the role of plant roots in nutrient acquisition has also been largely ignored in ESMs. We therefore present a new plant nitrogen model for CLM4.5 with (1) improved representations of linkages between leaf nitrogen and plant productivity based on observed relationships in a global plant trait database and (2) plant nitrogen uptake based on root-scale Michaelis-Menten uptake kinetics. Our model improvements led to a global bias reduction in GPP, LAI, and biomass of 70%, 11%, and 49%, respectively. Furthermore, water use efficiency predictions were improved conceptually, qualitatively, and in magnitude. The new model's GPP responses to nitrogen deposition, CO2 fertilization, and climate also differed from the baseline model. The mechanistic representation of leaf-level nitrogen allocation and a theoretically consistent treatment of competition with belowground consumers led to overall improvements in global carbon cycling predictions.

  1. Global life cycle releases of engineered nanomaterials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keller, Arturo A.; McFerran, Suzanne; Lazareva, Anastasiya; Suh, Sangwon

    2013-01-01

    Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are now becoming a significant fraction of the material flows in the global economy. We are already reaping the benefits of improved energy efficiency, material use reduction, and better performance in many existing and new applications that have been enabled by these technological advances. As ENMs pervade the global economy, however, it becomes important to understand their environmental implications. As a first step, we combined ENM market information and material flow modeling to produce the first global assessment of the likely ENM emissions to the environment and landfills. The top ten most produced ENMs by mass were analyzed in a dozen major applications. Emissions during the manufacturing, use, and disposal stages were estimated, including intermediate steps through wastewater treatment plants and waste incineration plants. In 2010, silica, titania, alumina, and iron and zinc oxides dominate the ENM market in terms of mass flow through the global economy, used mostly in coatings/paints/pigments, electronics and optics, cosmetics, energy and environmental applications, and as catalysts. We estimate that 63–91 % of over 260,000–309,000 metric tons of global ENM production in 2010 ended up in landfills, with the balance released into soils (8–28 %), water bodies (0.4–7 %), and atmosphere (0.1–1.5 %). While there are considerable uncertainties in the estimates, the framework for estimating emissions can be easily improved as better data become available. The material flow estimates can be used to quantify emissions at the local level, as inputs for fate and transport models to estimate concentrations in different environmental compartments.

  2. In-vitro antibacterial activity of selected medicinal plants from ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Background: Current strategies to overcome the global problem of antimicrobial resistance include research in finding new and innovative antimicrobials from plants. This study was carried out to determine the antibacterial activity of plant extracts of Olea africana stem-bark, Psidium guajava leaves, Vernonia amygdalina ...

  3. Global climate change

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gugele, B.; Radunsky, K.; Spangl, W.

    2001-01-01

    In Austria the CO 2 emissions increased by 5.9 % from 1990 to 1999, the other greenhouse gases by 2.6 %. The Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Environment and Water Management, in cooperation with other ministries and the countries, has worked out an action plan for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, to meet the targets of the Kyoto protocol. This study analyzes the greenhouse gas emissions in Austria, in the European Union and globally. The measured emission values throughout Austria and in the other European countries are given in tables, the environmental impact for Austria and globally is discussed, statistical data and time series of the emission sources are given and legal regulations and measures for an effective environmental emission control in Austria, the European Union and worldwide are discussed. In particular the impact of fossil-fuel power plants on the greenhouse gas emissions is analysed. (a.n.)

  4. Estimation of environmental external costs between coal fired power plant and nuclear power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moon, G. H.; Kim, S. S.

    2000-01-01

    First of all, this study evaluated the impacts on the health and the environment of air pollutants emitted from coal power plant and nuclear power pant, two major electric power generating options in Korea. Then, the environmental external costs of those two options were estimated by transforming the health and environment impact into monetary values. To do this, AIRPACTS and Impacts of Atmospheric Release model developed by IAEA were used. The environmental external cost of Samcheonpo coal power plant was estimated about 25 times as much as that of Younggwang nuclear power plant. This result implies that nuclear power plant is a clean technology compared with coal power plant. This study suggests that the external cost should be reflected in the electric system expansion plan in order to allocate energy resources efficiently and to reduce economic impact stemming from the environmental regulation emerged recently on a global level

  5. Moving Plants / Planter i Bevægelse

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    as a focal point for making local and global connections between aesthetic engagements with contemporary ecological issues and practices of concern. This book is a companion piece to the namesake art exhibition, bringing together the exhibited artists with scholars centrally invested in similar plant...... are increasingly insisting that plants are amongst our most important earthly co-inhabitants if we are to thrive and survive in a climatically changing world. As an exhibition, Moving Plants showcases art practices from across the world regions of East Asia and Europe that all centre, one way or another, on plants...

  6. Towards global patterns in the diversity and community structure of ectomycorrhizal fungi

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tedersoo, Leho; Bahram, Mohammad; Toots, Märt

    2012-01-01

    Global species richness patterns of soil micro-organisms remain poorly understood compared to macro-organisms. We use a global analysis to disentangle the global determinants of diversity and community composition for ectomycorrhizal (EcM) fungi—microbial symbionts that play key roles in plant...... nutrition in most temperate and many tropical forest ecosystems. Host plant family has the strongest effect on the phylogenetic community composition of fungi, whereas temperature and precipitation mostly affect EcM fungal richness that peaks in the temperate and boreal forest biomes, contrasting...... with latitudinal patterns of macro-organisms. Tropical ecosystems experience rapid turnover of organic material and have weak soil stratification, suggesting that poor habitat conditions may contribute to the relatively low richness of EcM fungi, and perhaps other soil biota, in most tropical ecosystems. For EcM...

  7. Global Distribution of Plant-Extractable Water Capacity of Soil (Dunne)

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Plant-extractable water capacity of soil is the amount of water that can be extracted from the soil to fulfill evapotranspiration demands. This data set provides an...

  8. Construction of overseas nuclear power plants for first time by Japanese industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maruyama, Tohru; Naruse, Yoshihiro; Yabuta, Hitoshi

    2010-01-01

    In response to the worldwide demand for stable energy supplies and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, nuclear power plant construction projects have been expanding on a global scale. Even in the United States, where no nuclear power plants have been constructed over the past 30 years, there are plans for the construction of more than 30 plants. Toshiba has been awarded a contract for a nuclear power plant construction project in the U.S., the first case of overseas nuclear power plant construction by Japanese industry. Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corporation (TANE), the first U.S. subsidiary in our nuclear business, located in Charlotte, North Carolina, is engaged in this globally prominent project, applying various technologies and know-how that we have cultivated over many years of experience in developing and constructing nuclear power plants in Japan and adapting them to U.S. business practices, laws, and regulations. (author)

  9. Multifarious beneficial traits and plant growth promoting potential of Serratia marcescens KiSII and Enterobacter sp. RNF 267 isolated from the rhizosphere of coconut palms (Cocos nucifera L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    George, Priya; Gupta, Alka; Gopal, Murali; Thomas, Litty; Thomas, George V

    2013-01-01

    Two plant growth promoting bacteria designated as KiSII and RNF 267 isolated from the rhizosphere of coconut palms were identified as Serratia marcescens and Enterobacter sp. based on their phenotypic features, BIOLOG studies and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Both bacteria exhibited phosphate solubilization, ammonification, and production of indole acetic acid, β-1, 3 glucanase activities and 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate-deaminase activity. They could also tolerate a range of pH conditions, low temperature and salinity (NaCl). In addition, S. marcescens KiSII exhibited N- fixation potential, chitinase activity, siderophore production and antibiotics production. Seed bacterization with these bacteria increased the growth parameters of test plants such as paddy and cowpea over uninoculated control in green house assay. In coconut seedlings, significant increase in growth and nutrient uptake accompanied with higher populations of plant beneficial microorganisms in their rhizospheres were recorded on inoculation with both the PGPRs. The present study clearly revealed that PGPRs can aid in production of healthy and vigorous seedlings of coconut palm which are hardy perennial crops. They offer a scope to be developed into novel PGPR based bioinoculants for production of elite seedlings that can benefit the coconut farming community and the coconut based ecology.

  10. Feasibility study on modernization of North Bangkok Thermal Power Plant

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    With an objective to save energies and reduce global warming gas emission, a feasibility study was performed on the oil burning thermal power plant in the city of North Bangkok in Thailand to reconstruct the plant into a natural gas burning combined cycle power plant. In the project, the old facilities with an output of 237.8 MW using three steam turbines in total will be reconstructed into a plant comprising of two steam turbines for 256,2 MW and two gas turbines for 460.4 MW, or a facility of 716.6 MW in total. The plant construction will have the gas turbines, steam turbines, generators, and a waste heat recovered steam generator fixed on one axis, two of which will be installed. The gas turbines will use natural gas as fuel, and the steam turbines will be operated by steam from the waste heat recovered steam generator. As a result of the discussions, the reduction of the energy consumption for a period of 40 years will correspond to crude oil of 20,560 kt, while the reduction of the global warming gas emission will be 107,200 t-CO2. In addition, the energy saving cost will be 9-ton crude oil equivalent/one million yen, and the cost for reduction of the global warming gas emission will be 47 t-CO2/one million yen. (NEDO)

  11. Physical injury stimulates aerobic methane emissions from terrestrial plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z.-P. Wang

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available Physical injury is common in terrestrial plants as a result of grazing, harvesting, trampling, and extreme weather events. Previous studies demonstrated enhanced emission of non-microbial CH4 under aerobic conditions from plant tissues when they were exposed to increasing UV radiation and temperature. Since physical injury is also a form of environmental stress, we sought to determine whether it would also affect CH4 emissions from plants. Physical injury (cutting stimulated CH4 emission from fresh twigs of Artemisia species under aerobic conditions. More cutting resulted in more CH4 emissions. Hypoxia also enhanced CH4 emission from both uncut and cut Artemisia frigida twigs. Physical injury typically results in cell wall degradation, which may either stimulate formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS or decrease scavenging of them. Increased ROS activity might explain increased CH4 emission in response to physical injury and other forms of stress. There were significant differences in CH4 emissions among 10 species of Artemisia, with some species emitting no detectable CH4 under any circumstances. Consequently, CH4 emissions may be species-dependent and therefore difficult to estimate in nature based on total plant biomass. Our results and those of previous studies suggest that a variety of environmental stresses stimulate CH4 emission from a wide variety of plant species. Global change processes, including climate change, depletion of stratospheric ozone, increasing ground-level ozone, spread of plant pests, and land-use changes, could cause more stress in plants on a global scale, potentially stimulating more CH4 emission globally.

  12. What fescue toxicosis is really doing inside your animals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plantings of tall fescue were numerous in Kentucky during the 1940s and 1950s after the cultivar, ‘Kentucky 31’, was released. Its hardiness and adaptability resulted in the grass spreading over much of the middle and upper southeastern USA. Cases of severe lameness and sloughing of hoofs, tails, a...

  13. Global diversification of a tropical plant growth form: environmental correlates and historical contingencies in climbing palms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Couvreur, Thomas L P; Kissling, W Daniel; Condamine, Fabien L; Svenning, Jens-Christian; Rowe, Nick P; Baker, William J

    2014-01-01

    Tropical rain forests (TRF) are the most diverse terrestrial biome on Earth, but the diversification dynamics of their constituent growth forms remain largely unexplored. Climbing plants contribute significantly to species diversity and ecosystem processes in TRF. We investigate the broad-scale patterns and drivers of species richness as well as the diversification history of climbing and non-climbing palms (Arecaceae). We quantify to what extent macroecological diversity patterns are related to contemporary climate, forest canopy height, and paleoclimatic changes. We test whether diversification rates are higher for climbing than non-climbing palms and estimate the origin of the climbing habit. Climbers account for 22% of global palm species diversity, mostly concentrated in Southeast Asia. Global variation in climbing palm species richness can be partly explained by past and present-day climate and rain forest canopy height, but regional differences in residual species richness after accounting for current and past differences in environment suggest a strong role of historical contingencies in climbing palm diversification. Climbing palms show a higher net diversification rate than non-climbers. Diversification analyses of palms detected a diversification rate increase along the branches leading to the most species-rich clade of climbers. Ancestral character reconstructions revealed that the climbing habit originated between early Eocene and Miocene. These results imply that changes from non-climbing to climbing habits may have played an important role in palm diversification, resulting in the origin of one fifth of all palm species. We suggest that, in addition to current climate and paleoclimatic changes after the late Neogene, present-day diversity of climbing palms can be explained by morpho-anatomical innovations, the biogeographic history of Southeast Asia, and/or ecological opportunities due to the diversification of high-stature dipterocarps in Asian TRFs.

  14. July: "Soils are living: Overview of soil biodiversity, global issues, and new resources"

    Science.gov (United States)

    The July poster will provide an overview of soil biology and the many ecosystem functions that soil organisms drive including their impact on global biodiversity, climate regulation, soil health/stability, and plant growth. Five main global issues related to soil biodiversity will be presented such ...

  15. Flexibility in the context of intelligent plant's development

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Augusto Pereira

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available Globalization and competition among companies bring changes in the product development, reducing increasingly its life's cycle. Corporations are opting to world-wide products platforms, with global strategies. Besides the wider vision about corporative strategies, dynamic markets and strong competition are impacting in the medium and short term companies' demands. All these characteristics create turbulences in the organizations, but they can also convey opportunities. In order to take strategic advantage in this process, companies ought to innovate, changing the manner of planning and operating its plants. One possibility to achieve these goals is using flexibility in the manufacture. In this paper, flexibility aspects will be addressed in context of band, reply and dimension, and, how companies can apply this benefit to get better design in their plants and manufacture process, and eliminate waste. Key-words: Flexibility, Toyota Production System, Lean Manufacturing, Intelligent Plants, Wastes’ elimination.

  16. A small diffusible signal molecule is responsible for the global control of virulence and exoenzyme production in the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pirhonen, M; Flego, D; Heikinheimo, R; Palva, E T

    1993-06-01

    Virulence of the plant pathogen Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora is dependent on the production and secretion of a complex arsenal of plant cell wall-degrading enzymes. Production of these exoenzymes is controlled by a global regulatory mechanism. A virulent mutants in one of the regulatory loci, expI, show a pleiotropic defect in the growth phase-dependent transcriptional activation of exoenzyme gene expression. The expI gene encodes a 26 kDa polypeptide that is structurally and functionally related to the luxI gene product of Vibrio fischeri. Functional similarity of expI and luxI has been demonstrated by reciprocal genetic complementation experiments. LuxI controls bioluminescence in V.fischeri in a growth phase-dependent manner by directing the synthesis of the diffusible autoinducer, N-(3-oxohexanoyl) homoserine lactone. E.c. subsp. carotovora expI+ strains or Escherichia coli harboring the cloned expI gene excrete a small diffusible signal molecule that complements the expI mutation of Erwinia as well as a luxI mutation of V.fischeri. This extracellular complementation can also be achieved by E.coli harboring the luxI gene from V.fischeri or by adding the synthetic V.fischeri autoinducer. Both the production of the plant tissue-macerating exoenzymes and the ability of the bacteria to propagate in planta are restored in expI mutants by autoinducer addition. These data suggest that the same signal molecule is employed in control of such diverse processes as virulence in a plant pathogen and bioluminescence in a marine bacterium, and may represent a general mechanism by which bacteria modulate gene expression in response to changing environmental conditions.

  17. Global warming and extinctions of endemic species from biodiversity hotspots.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malcolm, Jay R; Liu, Canran; Neilson, Ronald P; Hansen, Lara; Hannah, Lee

    2006-04-01

    Global warming is a key threat to biodiversity, but few researchers have assessed the magnitude of this threat at the global scale. We used major vegetation types (biomes) as proxies for natural habitats and, based on projected future biome distributions under doubled-CO2 climates, calculated changes in habitat areas and associated extinctions of endemic plant and vertebrate species in biodiversity hotspots. Because of numerous uncertainties in this approach, we undertook a sensitivity analysis of multiple factors that included (1) two global vegetation models, (2) different numbers of biome classes in our biome classification schemes, (3) different assumptions about whether species distributions were biome specific or not, and (4) different migration capabilities. Extinctions were calculated using both species-area and endemic-area relationships. In addition, average required migration rates were calculated for each hotspot assuming a doubled-CO2 climate in 100 years. Projected percent extinctions ranged from hotspots were the Cape Floristic Region, Caribbean, Indo-Burma, Mediterranean Basin, Southwest Australia, and Tropical Andes, where plant extinctions per hotspot sometimes exceeded 2000 species. Under the assumption that projected habitat changes were attained in 100 years, estimated global-warming-induced rates of species extinctions in tropical hotspots in some cases exceeded those due to deforestation, supporting suggestions that global warming is one of the most serious threats to the planet's biodiversity.

  18. Vulnerability of Hidropower Generation in Amazon's Tributaries Under Global Change Scenarios

    Science.gov (United States)

    Von Randow, R.; Siqueira, J. L., Jr.; Rodriguez, D. A.; Tomasella, J.; Floriano, L. E.

    2014-12-01

    The Brazilian energy sector is under continued expansion. The majority of energy power generation in the country is done through hydropower, which represents around 88% of the energy originated from renewable sources in the country. Still, only 10% of the high potential for production of the Amazon basin is currently availed, and this raises attention for the implantation of new hydropower plants in the region. When a hydropower plant is considered to be built, the natural characteristics of the region are taken into account, considering that the rainfall regime follows certain stationarity. However, under the possibility of global change, the expected capacity of the plants may be compromised. The objective of this study is to evaluate if the current hydropower plants of some Amazon River tributaries can maintain their functionality under global environmental change conditions. For that, based on the discharge data and hydropower information available by Brazilian National Agency of Water and Energy we will infer the energy potential of these hydropower dams for the historic period that will be compared with the energy potential for future discharge under global environmental change conditions. The future discharge will be generated by the Distributed Hydrological Model developed at the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (MHD-INPE), driven by different climate change scenarios projected by regional and global atmospheric models, associated with land use scenarios projected by a dynamic land use model (LUCC-ME/INPE). MHD-INPE will be calibrated through observed discharges for 1970-1990 using current land use conditions, and will generate discharges for the period of 2000 to 2050. In addition, special attention will be given to the presence of secondary forest growth in the land use scenarios in order to identify the importance of considering this use in the modelling exercise, since that use is not usually considered in hydrological modelling studies.

  19. Plant Biodiversity in Urbanized Areas Plant Functional Traits in Space and Time, Plant Rarity and Phylogenetic Diversity

    CERN Document Server

    Knapp, Sonja

    2010-01-01

    Urbanization is one of the main drivers of global change. It often takes place in areas with high biodiversity, threatening species worldwide. To protect biodiversity not only outside but also right within urban areas, knowledge about the effects of urban land use on species assemblages is essential. Sonja Knapp compares several aspects of plant biodiversity between urban and rural areas in Germany. Using extensive databases and modern statistical methods, she goes beyond species richness: Urban areas are rich in species but plant species in urban areas are closer related to each other than plant species in rural areas, respectively. The urban environment, characterized by high temperatures and frequent disturbances, changes the functional composition of the flora. It promotes e.g. short-lived species with leaves adapted to drought but threatens insect-pollinated or wind-dispersed species. The author claims that the protection of biodiversity should not only focus on species richness but also on functional an...

  20. Effect of gamma radiation on seed germination and seedling vigour in cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thimmaiah, S.K.; Mahadevu, P; Srinivasappa, K.N.; Shankara, A.N.

    1998-01-01

    Cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) is regarded as hardy and one of the important tropical legumes. The plants respond differently to mutagenic treatments. Ionizing radiations affect a wide range of physiological and biochemical activities of plants. The purpose of this paper is to report the effect of gamma radiation on seed germination and seedling vigour of two important cowpea varieties viz., KBC-1 and TVX-994-02E in M 1 generation under laboratory conditions. (author)

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