Experience drives innovation of new migration patterns of whooping cranes in response to global change

Science.gov (United States)

Teitelbaum, Claire S.; Converse, Sarah J.; Fagan, William F.; Böhning-Gaese, Katrin; O'Hara, Robert B.; Lacy, Anne E; Mueller, Thomas

2016-01-01

Anthropogenic changes in climate and land use are driving changes in migration patterns of birds worldwide. Spatial changes in migration have been related to long-term temperature trends, but the intrinsic mechanisms by which migratory species adapt to environmental change remain largely unexplored. We show that, for a long-lived social species, older birds with more experience are critical for innovating new migration behaviours. Groups containing older, more experienced individuals establish new overwintering sites closer to the breeding grounds, leading to a rapid population-level shift in migration patterns. Furthermore, these new overwintering sites are in areas where changes in climate have increased temperatures and where food availability from agriculture is high, creating favourable conditions for overwintering. Our results reveal that the age structure of populations is critical for the behavioural mechanisms that allow species to adapt to global change, particularly for long-lived animals, where changes in behaviour can occur faster than evolution.

Audio-based, unsupervised machine learning reveals cyclic changes in earthquake mechanisms in the Geysers geothermal field, California

Science.gov (United States)

Holtzman, B. K.; Paté, A.; Paisley, J.; Waldhauser, F.; Repetto, D.; Boschi, L.

2017-12-01

The earthquake process reflects complex interactions of stress, fracture and frictional properties. New machine learning methods reveal patterns in time-dependent spectral properties of seismic signals and enable identification of changes in faulting processes. Our methods are based closely on those developed for music information retrieval and voice recognition, using the spectrogram instead of the waveform directly. Unsupervised learning involves identification of patterns based on differences among signals without any additional information provided to the algorithm. Clustering of 46,000 earthquakes of $0.3

SYNOVIAL MEMBRANE CHANGES IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS REVEALED DURING ARTHROSCOPY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. B. Komarova

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Exudative or proliferative processes accompanied by joint destruction may predominate in the synovial membrane (SM in different stages of rheumatoid arthritis (RA. The features of SM changes should be considered in the early diagnosis of RA and in the development of combination treatment for this disease.Objective: to study arthroscopic SM changes in patients with different RA durations and different blood anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP antibody levels.Subjects and methods. 37 patients with RA underwent arthroscopy with an arthroscope of a 2.4-mm diameter and 30° angle (Karl Storz GmbH, Germany. RA duration was <2 years in 17 patients and ranged from 2 to 8 years in 20; the blood level of anti-CCP antibodies did not exceed 60 IU/ml in 15 patients and it was higher in 22. SM changes were assessed by a semiquantitative method.Results and discussion. Arthroscopy revealed a preponderance of SM hyperemia with an increased vascular pattern (p<0.01 and fibrin deposits (p<0.05 in patients with a RA duration of < 2 years and that of villous hyperplasia with the formation of club-shaped villi (p<0.05 in those with a RA duration of >2 years. The increase in anti-CCP by >60 U/ml was associated with a predominance of inflammatory hyperplasia (p < 0.01, SM hyperemia with a pronounced vascular pattern (p<0.05, as well as with the presence of pannus (pp<0.01.

Multiple oxygen tension environments reveal diverse patterns of transcriptional regulation in primary astrocytes.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wayne Chadwick

Full Text Available The central nervous system normally functions at O(2 levels which would be regarded as hypoxic by most other tissues. However, most in vitro studies of neurons and astrocytes are conducted under hyperoxic conditions without consideration of O(2-dependent cellular adaptation. We analyzed the reactivity of astrocytes to 1, 4 and 9% O(2 tensions compared to the cell culture standard of 20% O(2, to investigate their ability to sense and translate this O(2 information to transcriptional activity. Variance of ambient O(2 tension for rat astrocytes resulted in profound changes in ribosomal activity, cytoskeletal and energy-regulatory mechanisms and cytokine-related signaling. Clustering of transcriptional regulation patterns revealed four distinct response pattern groups that directionally pivoted around the 4% O(2 tension, or demonstrated coherent ascending/decreasing gene expression patterns in response to diverse oxygen tensions. Immune response and cell cycle/cancer-related signaling pathway transcriptomic subsets were significantly activated with increasing hypoxia, whilst hemostatic and cardiovascular signaling mechanisms were attenuated with increasing hypoxia. Our data indicate that variant O(2 tensions induce specific and physiologically-focused transcript regulation patterns that may underpin important physiological mechanisms that connect higher neurological activity to astrocytic function and ambient oxygen environments. These strongly defined patterns demonstrate a strong bias for physiological transcript programs to pivot around the 4% O(2 tension, while uni-modal programs that do not, appear more related to pathological actions. The functional interaction of these transcriptional 'programs' may serve to regulate the dynamic vascular responsivity of the central nervous system during periods of stress or heightened activity.

Climate change and amphibian diversity patterns in Mexico

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ochoa-Ochoa, Leticia M.; Rodríguez, Pilar; Mora, Franz

2012-01-01

The aim of this article is to characterize at fine scale alpha and beta diversity patterns for Mexican amphibians and analyze how these patterns might change under a moderate climate-change scenario, highlighting the overall consequences for amphibian diversity at the country level. We used a geo...

Patterns and comparisons of human-induced changes in river flood impacts in cities

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Stephanie; Sharma, Ashish; Sisson, Scott A.

2018-03-01

In this study, information extracted from the first global urban fluvial flood risk data set (Aqueduct) is investigated and visualized to explore current and projected city-level flood impacts driven by urbanization and climate change. We use a novel adaption of the self-organizing map (SOM) method, an artificial neural network proficient at clustering, pattern extraction, and visualization of large, multi-dimensional data sets. Prevalent patterns of current relationships and anticipated changes over time in the nonlinearly-related environmental and social variables are presented, relating urban river flood impacts to socioeconomic development and changing hydrologic conditions. Comparisons are provided between 98 individual cities. Output visualizations compare baseline and changing trends of city-specific exposures of population and property to river flooding, revealing relationships between the cities based on their relative map placements. Cities experiencing high (or low) baseline flood impacts on population and/or property that are expected to improve (or worsen), as a result of anticipated climate change and development, are identified and compared. This paper condenses and conveys large amounts of information through visual communication to accelerate the understanding of relationships between local urban conditions and global processes.

Multivariate pattern classification reveals autonomic and experiential representations of discrete emotions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kragel, Philip A; Labar, Kevin S

2013-08-01

Defining the structural organization of emotions is a central unresolved question in affective science. In particular, the extent to which autonomic nervous system activity signifies distinct affective states remains controversial. Most prior research on this topic has used univariate statistical approaches in attempts to classify emotions from psychophysiological data. In the present study, electrodermal, cardiac, respiratory, and gastric activity, as well as self-report measures were taken from healthy subjects during the experience of fear, anger, sadness, surprise, contentment, and amusement in response to film and music clips. Information pertaining to affective states present in these response patterns was analyzed using multivariate pattern classification techniques. Overall accuracy for classifying distinct affective states was 58.0% for autonomic measures and 88.2% for self-report measures, both of which were significantly above chance. Further, examining the error distribution of classifiers revealed that the dimensions of valence and arousal selectively contributed to decoding emotional states from self-report, whereas a categorical configuration of affective space was evident in both self-report and autonomic measures. Taken together, these findings extend recent multivariate approaches to study emotion and indicate that pattern classification tools may improve upon univariate approaches to reveal the underlying structure of emotional experience and physiological expression. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Dietary patterns and changes in body weight in women.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulze, Matthias B; Fung, Teresa T; Manson, Joann E; Willett, Walter C; Hu, Frank B

2006-08-01

Our objective was to examine the association between adherence to dietary patterns and weight change in women. Women (51,670, 26 to 46 years old) in the Nurses' Health Study II were followed from 1991 to 1999. Dietary intake and body weight were ascertained in 1991, 1995, and 1999. A Western pattern, characterized by high intakes of red and processed meats, refined grains, sweets and desserts, and potatoes, and a prudent pattern, characterized by high intakes of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, poultry, and salad dressing, were identified with principal component analysis, and associations between patterns and change in body weight were estimated. Women who increased their Western pattern score had greater weight gain (multivariate adjusted means, 4.55 kg for 1991 to 1995 and 2.86 kg for 1995 to 1999) than women who decreased their Western pattern score (2.70 and 1.37 kg for the two time periods), adjusting for baseline lifestyle and dietary confounders and changes in confounders over time (p < 0.001 for both time periods). Furthermore, among women who increased their prudent pattern score, weight gain was smaller (multivariate-adjusted means, 1.93 kg for 1991 to 1995 and 0.66 kg for 1995 to 1999) than among women who decreased their prudent pattern score (4.83 and 3.35 kg for the two time periods) (p < 0.001). The largest weight gain between 1991 and 1995 and between 1995 and 1999 was observed among women who decreased their prudent pattern score while increasing their Western pattern score (multivariate adjusted means, 6.80 and 4.99 kg), whereas it was smallest for the opposite change in patterns (0.87 and -0.64 kg) (p < 0.001). Adoption of a Western dietary pattern is associated with larger weight gain in women, whereas a prudent dietary pattern may facilitate weight maintenance.

Population genetics of two key mosquito vectors of Rift Valley Fever virus reveals new insights into the changing disease outbreak patterns in Kenya.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David P Tchouassi

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Rift Valley fever (RVF outbreaks in Kenya have increased in frequency and range to include northeastern Kenya where viruses are increasingly being isolated from known (Aedes mcintoshi and newly-associated (Ae. ochraceus vectors. The factors contributing to these changing outbreak patterns are unclear and the population genetic structure of key vectors and/or specific virus-vector associations, in particular, are under-studied. By conducting mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analyses on >220 Kenyan specimens of Ae. mcintoshi and Ae. ochraceus, we uncovered high levels of vector complexity which may partly explain the disease outbreak pattern. Results indicate that Ae. mcintoshi consists of a species complex with one of the member species being unique to the newly-established RVF outbreak-prone northeastern region of Kenya, whereas Ae. ochraceus is a homogeneous population that appears to be undergoing expansion. Characterization of specimens from a RVF-prone site in Senegal, where Ae. ochraceus is a primary vector, revealed direct genetic links between the two Ae. ochraceus populations from both countries. Our data strongly suggest that unlike Ae. mcintoshi, Ae. ochraceus appears to be a relatively recent, single 'introduction' into Kenya. These results, together with increasing isolations from this vector, indicate that Ae. ochraceus will likely be of greater epidemiological importance in future RVF outbreaks in Kenya. Furthermore, the overall vector complexity calls into question the feasibility of mosquito population control approaches reliant on genetic modification.

Population Genetics of Two Key Mosquito Vectors of Rift Valley Fever Virus Reveals New Insights into the Changing Disease Outbreak Patterns in Kenya

Science.gov (United States)

Tchouassi, David P.; Bastos, Armanda D. S.; Sole, Catherine L.; Diallo, Mawlouth; Lutomiah, Joel; Mutisya, James; Mulwa, Francis; Borgemeister, Christian; Sang, Rosemary; Torto, Baldwyn

2014-01-01

Rift Valley fever (RVF) outbreaks in Kenya have increased in frequency and range to include northeastern Kenya where viruses are increasingly being isolated from known (Aedes mcintoshi) and newly-associated (Ae. ochraceus) vectors. The factors contributing to these changing outbreak patterns are unclear and the population genetic structure of key vectors and/or specific virus-vector associations, in particular, are under-studied. By conducting mitochondrial and nuclear DNA analyses on >220 Kenyan specimens of Ae. mcintoshi and Ae. ochraceus, we uncovered high levels of vector complexity which may partly explain the disease outbreak pattern. Results indicate that Ae. mcintoshi consists of a species complex with one of the member species being unique to the newly-established RVF outbreak-prone northeastern region of Kenya, whereas Ae. ochraceus is a homogeneous population that appears to be undergoing expansion. Characterization of specimens from a RVF-prone site in Senegal, where Ae. ochraceus is a primary vector, revealed direct genetic links between the two Ae. ochraceus populations from both countries. Our data strongly suggest that unlike Ae. mcintoshi, Ae. ochraceus appears to be a relatively recent, single 'introduction' into Kenya. These results, together with increasing isolations from this vector, indicate that Ae. ochraceus will likely be of greater epidemiological importance in future RVF outbreaks in Kenya. Furthermore, the overall vector complexity calls into question the feasibility of mosquito population control approaches reliant on genetic modification. PMID:25474018

Social patterns revealed through random matrix theory

Science.gov (United States)

Sarkar, Camellia; Jalan, Sarika

2014-11-01

Despite the tremendous advancements in the field of network theory, very few studies have taken weights in the interactions into consideration that emerge naturally in all real-world systems. Using random matrix analysis of a weighted social network, we demonstrate the profound impact of weights in interactions on emerging structural properties. The analysis reveals that randomness existing in particular time frame affects the decisions of individuals rendering them more freedom of choice in situations of financial security. While the structural organization of networks remains the same throughout all datasets, random matrix theory provides insight into the interaction pattern of individuals of the society in situations of crisis. It has also been contemplated that individual accountability in terms of weighted interactions remains as a key to success unless segregation of tasks comes into play.

Psychological stress exposure to aged mice causes abnormal feeding patterns with changes in the bout number.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Chihiro; Mogami, Sachiko; Hattori, Tomohisa

2017-11-09

Stress responses are affected by aging. However, studies on stress-related changes in feeding patterns with aging subject are minimal. We investigated feeding patterns induced by two psychological stress models, revealing characteristics of stress-induced feeding patterns as "meal" and "bout" (defined as the minimum feeding behavior parameters) in aged mice. Feeding behaviors of C57BL/6J mice were monitored for 24 h by an automatic monitoring device. Novelty stress reduced the meal amount over the 24 h in both young and aged mice, but as a result of a time course study it was persistent in aged mice. In addition, the decreased bout number was more pronounced in aged mice than in young mice. The 24-h meal and bout parameters did not change in either the young or aged mice following water avoidance stress (WAS). However, the meal amount and bout number increased in aged mice for 0-6 h after WAS exposure but remained unchanged in young mice. Our findings suggest that changes in bout number may lead to abnormal stress-related feeding patterns and may be one tool for evaluating eating abnormality in aged mice.

Patterns of Change in Psychological Variables Leading up to Competition in Superior Versus Inferior Performers.

Science.gov (United States)

Boat, Ruth; Taylor, Ian M

2015-06-01

The study explored patterns of change in a number of potentially performance-related variables (i.e., fatigue, social support, self-efficacy, autonomous motivation, mental skills) during the lead-up to a competitive triathlon, and whether these patterns of change differed for relatively superior versus inferior performers. Forty-two triathletes completed an inventory measuring the study variables every other day during a 2-week period leading up to competition. Performance was assessed using participants' race time, and using a self-referenced relative score compared with personal best times. Multilevel growth curve analyses revealed significant differences in growth trajectories over the 2-week period in mental skills use, social support, and fatigue. The results provide novel insight into how athletes' fluctuating psychological state in the 2 weeks before competition may be crucial in determining performance.

Distribution patterns of firearm discharge residues as revealed by neutron activation analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pillay, K.K.S.; Driscoll, D.C.; Jester, W.A.

1975-01-01

A systematic investigation using a variety of handguns has revealed the existence of distinguisable distribution patterns of firearm discharge residues on surfaces below the flight path of a bullet. The residues are identificable even at distances of 12 meters from the gun using nondestructive neutron activation analysis. The results of these investigations show that the distribution pattern for a gun is reproducible using similar ammunition and that there exist two distinct regions to the patterns developed between the firearm and the target-one with respect to the position of the gun and the other in the vicinity of the target. The judicious applications of these findings could be of significant value in criminal investigations. (T.G.)

Foreign body-induced changes in the reticular contraction pattern of sheep observed with M-mode ultrasonography

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.A. Morgado

2015-04-01

Full Text Available In the pre-experimental period of a clinical trial, an apparently clinically healthy sheep fitted with ruminal and abomasal cannulas showed changes in the reticular contraction pattern visualized in M-mode ultrasonogram. Radiographic examination revealed a blunt metal screw in its reticulum. By the time change in the reticular motility through the ultrasound examination was detected, the animal had still not expressed any behavioral changes. A description of the clinical case, follow-up of the findings and laboratory data, like white blood cell count, serum pepsinogen and fibrinogen concentrations, were presented. The foreign body was removed through the ruminal cannula and reticular contraction tended to normal. An association of the contraction pattern with measured clinical data was possible, leading to the conclusion that use of M-mode ultrasonography has a potential application in similar clinical situations.

A Filtering Method to Reveal Crystalline Patterns from Atom Probe Microscopy Desorption Maps

Science.gov (United States)

2016-03-26

reveal crystalline patterns from atom probe microscopy desorption maps Lan Yao Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann...reveal the crystallographic information present in Atom Probe Microscopy (APM) data is presented. Themethod filters atoms based on the time difference...between their evaporation and the evaporation of the previous atom . Since this time difference correlates with the location and the local structure of

TreeNetViz: revealing patterns of networks over tree structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Gou, Liang; Zhang, Xiaolong Luke

2011-12-01

Network data often contain important attributes from various dimensions such as social affiliations and areas of expertise in a social network. If such attributes exhibit a tree structure, visualizing a compound graph consisting of tree and network structures becomes complicated. How to visually reveal patterns of a network over a tree has not been fully studied. In this paper, we propose a compound graph model, TreeNet, to support visualization and analysis of a network at multiple levels of aggregation over a tree. We also present a visualization design, TreeNetViz, to offer the multiscale and cross-scale exploration and interaction of a TreeNet graph. TreeNetViz uses a Radial, Space-Filling (RSF) visualization to represent the tree structure, a circle layout with novel optimization to show aggregated networks derived from TreeNet, and an edge bundling technique to reduce visual complexity. Our circular layout algorithm reduces both total edge-crossings and edge length and also considers hierarchical structure constraints and edge weight in a TreeNet graph. These experiments illustrate that the algorithm can reduce visual cluttering in TreeNet graphs. Our case study also shows that TreeNetViz has the potential to support the analysis of a compound graph by revealing multiscale and cross-scale network patterns. © 2011 IEEE

Over Expression of a tRNALeu Isoacceptor Changes Charging Pattern of Leucine tRNAs and Reveals New Codon Reading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Michael Askvad; Elf, J.; Bouakaz, E.

2005-01-01

During mRNA translation, synonymous codons for one amino acid are often read by different isoaccepting tRNAs. The theory of selective tRNA charging predicts greatly varying percentages of aminoacylation among isoacceptors in cells starved for their common amino acid. It also predicts major changes...... in tRNA charging patterns upon concentration changes of single isoacceptors, which suggests a novel type of translational control of gene expression. We therefore tested the theory by measuring with Northern blots the charging of Leu-tRNAs in Escherichia coli under Leu limitation in response to over...... postulated a previously unknown common codon for tRNALeu GAG and tRNALeu UAG. Subsequently, we demonstrated that the tRNALeu GAG codon CUU is, in fact, read also by tRNALeu UAG, due to a uridine-5-oxyacetic acid modification....

Method of changing the control rod pattern in BWR type reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshida, Kenji.

1984-01-01

Purpose: To enable to change the control rod pattern in a short time with ease, as well as improve the availability factor of the reactor. Method: Control rods other than those being inserted into the reactor core are inserted into the reactor core to reduce the power by the reduction in the reactor core flow rate. Then, the control rod to be operated is operated partially for the change of the control rod pattern to restrict the linear heat rating of the fuels to less than 0.1 kW/ft per one hour to change the control pattern to the aimed control rod pattern. Then, the reactor core flow rate is increased after the pattern exchange for the control rod to increase the power. Since only the control rod operation is performed without adjusting the reactor core flow rate upon change of the control rod pattern, procedures can be made simply in a short time to thereby improve the availability factor of the reactor. (Moriyama, K.)

Enhanced change detection performance reveals improved strategy use in avid action video game players.

Science.gov (United States)

Clark, Kait; Fleck, Mathias S; Mitroff, Stephen R

2011-01-01

Recent research has shown that avid action video game players (VGPs) outperform non-video game players (NVGPs) on a variety of attentional and perceptual tasks. However, it remains unknown exactly why and how such differences arise; while some prior research has demonstrated that VGPs' improvements stem from enhanced basic perceptual processes, other work indicates that they can stem from enhanced attentional control. The current experiment used a change-detection task to explore whether top-down strategies can contribute to VGPs' improved abilities. Participants viewed alternating presentations of an image and a modified version of the image and were tasked with detecting and localizing the changed element. Consistent with prior claims of enhanced perceptual abilities, VGPs were able to detect the changes while requiring less exposure to the change than NVGPs. Further analyses revealed this improved change detection performance may result from altered strategy use; VGPs employed broader search patterns when scanning scenes for potential changes. These results complement prior demonstrations of VGPs' enhanced bottom-up perceptual benefits by providing new evidence of VGPs' potentially enhanced top-down strategic benefits. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inheritance Patterns in Citation Networks Reveal Scientific Memes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tobias Kuhn

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Memes are the cultural equivalent of genes that spread across human culture by means of imitation. What makes a meme and what distinguishes it from other forms of information, however, is still poorly understood. Our analysis of memes in the scientific literature reveals that they are governed by a surprisingly simple relationship between frequency of occurrence and the degree to which they propagate along the citation graph. We propose a simple formalization of this pattern and validate it with data from close to 50 million publication records from the Web of Science, PubMed Central, and the American Physical Society. Evaluations relying on human annotators, citation network randomizations, and comparisons with several alternative approaches confirm that our formula is accurate and effective, without a dependence on linguistic or ontological knowledge and without the application of arbitrary thresholds or filters.

Inheritance Patterns in Citation Networks Reveal Scientific Memes

Science.gov (United States)

Kuhn, Tobias; Perc, Matjaž; Helbing, Dirk

2014-10-01

Memes are the cultural equivalent of genes that spread across human culture by means of imitation. What makes a meme and what distinguishes it from other forms of information, however, is still poorly understood. Our analysis of memes in the scientific literature reveals that they are governed by a surprisingly simple relationship between frequency of occurrence and the degree to which they propagate along the citation graph. We propose a simple formalization of this pattern and validate it with data from close to 50 million publication records from the Web of Science, PubMed Central, and the American Physical Society. Evaluations relying on human annotators, citation network randomizations, and comparisons with several alternative approaches confirm that our formula is accurate and effective, without a dependence on linguistic or ontological knowledge and without the application of arbitrary thresholds or filters.

Extracting gene expression patterns and identifying co-expressed genes from microarray data reveals biologically responsive processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paules Richard S

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background A common observation in the analysis of gene expression data is that many genes display similarity in their expression patterns and therefore appear to be co-regulated. However, the variation associated with microarray data and the complexity of the experimental designs make the acquisition of co-expressed genes a challenge. We developed a novel method for Extracting microarray gene expression Patterns and Identifying co-expressed Genes, designated as EPIG. The approach utilizes the underlying structure of gene expression data to extract patterns and identify co-expressed genes that are responsive to experimental conditions. Results Through evaluation of the correlations among profiles, the magnitude of variation in gene expression profiles, and profile signal-to-noise ratio's, EPIG extracts a set of patterns representing co-expressed genes. The method is shown to work well with a simulated data set and microarray data obtained from time-series studies of dauer recovery and L1 starvation in C. elegans and after ultraviolet (UV or ionizing radiation (IR-induced DNA damage in diploid human fibroblasts. With the simulated data set, EPIG extracted the appropriate number of patterns which were more stable and homogeneous than the set of patterns that were determined using the CLICK or CAST clustering algorithms. However, CLICK performed better than EPIG and CAST with respect to the average correlation between clusters/patterns of the simulated data. With real biological data, EPIG extracted more dauer-specific patterns than CLICK. Furthermore, analysis of the IR/UV data revealed 18 unique patterns and 2661 genes out of approximately 17,000 that were identified as significantly expressed and categorized to the patterns by EPIG. The time-dependent patterns displayed similar and dissimilar responses between IR and UV treatments. Gene Ontology analysis applied to each pattern-related subset of co-expressed genes revealed underlying

Is changing footstrike pattern beneficial to runners?

OpenAIRE

Joseph Hamill; Allison H. Gruber

2017-01-01

Some researchers, running instructors, and coaches have suggested that the “optimal” footstrike pattern to improve performance and reduce running injuries is to land using a mid- or forefoot strike. Thus, it has been recommended that runners who use a rearfoot strike would benefit by changing their footstrike although there is little scientific evidence for suggesting such a change. The rearfoot strike is clearly more prevalent. The major reasons often given for changing to a mid- or forefoot...

Changing Housing Patterns in Metropolitan Washington

Science.gov (United States)

Grier, George; Grier, Eunice

1975-01-01

This testimony, before a public hearing of the New York City Commission on Human Rights in May 1974, summarizes extensive studies of changing minority residential patterns in metropolitan Washington and less extensive studies of other groups; the prospects for future desegregation and for using the growing economic potential of minority families…

Wildfire patterns and landscape changes in Mediterranean oak woodlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Guiomar, N; Godinho, S; Fernandes, P M; Machado, R; Neves, N; Fernandes, J P

2015-12-01

Fire is infrequent in the oak woodlands of southern Portugal (montado) but large and severe fires affected these agro-forestry systems in 2003-2005. We hypothesised transition from forest to shrubland as a fire-driven process and investigated the links between fire incidence and montado change to other land cover types, particularly those related with the presence of pioneer communities (generically designed in this context as "transitions to early-successional communities"). We present a landscape-scale framework for assessing the probability of transition from montado to pioneer communities, considering three sets of explanatory variables: montado patterns in 1990 and prior changes from montado to early-successional communities (occurred between 1960 and 1990), fire patterns, and spatial factors. These three sets of factors captured 78.2% of the observed variability in the transitions from montado to pioneer vegetation. The contributions of fire patterns and spatial factors were high, respectively 60.6% and 43.4%, the influence of montado patterns and former changes in montado being lower (34.4%). The highest amount of explained variation in the occurrence of transitions from montado to early-successional communities was related to the pure effect of fire patterns (19.9%). Low spatial connectedness in montado landscape can increase vulnerability to changes, namely to pioneer vegetation, but the observed changes were mostly explained by fire characteristics and spatial factors. Among all metrics used to characterize fire patterns and extent, effective mesh size provided the best modelling results. Transitions from montado to pioneer communities are more likely in the presence of high values of the effective mesh size of total burned area. This cross-boundary metric is an indicator of the influence of large fires in the distribution of the identified transitions and, therefore, we conclude that the occurrence of large fires in montado increases its probability of

Instantaneous, Simple, and Reversible Revealing of Invisible Patterns Encrypted in Robust Hollow Sphere Colloidal Photonic Crystals.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhong, Kuo; Li, Jiaqi; Liu, Liwang; Van Cleuvenbergen, Stijn; Song, Kai; Clays, Koen

2018-05-04

The colors of photonic crystals are based on their periodic crystalline structure. They show clear advantages over conventional chromophores for many applications, mainly due to their anti-photobleaching and responsiveness to stimuli. More specifically, combining colloidal photonic crystals and invisible patterns is important in steganography and watermarking for anticounterfeiting applications. Here a convenient way to imprint robust invisible patterns in colloidal crystals of hollow silica spheres is presented. While these patterns remain invisible under static environmental humidity, even up to near 100% relative humidity, they are unveiled immediately (≈100 ms) and fully reversibly by dynamic humid flow, e.g., human breath. They reveal themselves due to the extreme wettability of the patterned (etched) regions, as confirmed by contact angle measurements. The liquid surface tension threshold to induce wetting (revealing the imprinted invisible images) is evaluated by thermodynamic predictions and subsequently verified by exposure to various vapors with different surface tension. The color of the patterned regions is furthermore independently tuned by vapors with different refractive indices. Such a system can play a key role in applications such as anticounterfeiting, identification, and vapor sensing. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Is changing footstrike pattern beneficial to runners?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph Hamill

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Some researchers, running instructors, and coaches have suggested that the “optimal” footstrike pattern to improve performance and reduce running injuries is to land using a mid- or forefoot strike. Thus, it has been recommended that runners who use a rearfoot strike would benefit by changing their footstrike although there is little scientific evidence for suggesting such a change. The rearfoot strike is clearly more prevalent. The major reasons often given for changing to a mid- or forefoot strike are (1 it is more economical; (2 there is a reduction in the impact peak and loading rate of the vertical component of the ground reaction force; and (3 there is a reduction in the risk of a running-related injuries. In this paper, we critique these 3 suggestions and provide alternate explanations that may provide contradictory evidence for altering one's footstrike pattern. We have concluded, based on examining the research literature, that changing to a mid- or forefoot strike does not improve running economy, does not eliminate an impact at the foot-ground contact, and does not reduce the risk of running-related injuries.

LAND USE PATTERN, CLIMATE CHANGE, AND ITS IMPLICATION ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Osondu

2012-01-30

Jan 30, 2012 ... impacted seriously on Ethiopia's rich biodiversity, crop production ... change in the rural areas of Ethiopia, this paper therefore reviewed ... Key words: Climate change, Land use pattern, and Food security. .... releasing greenhouse gases, and the major driver ... Agricultural systems worldwide over the last.

[Wetland landscape pattern change based on GIS and RS: a review].

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Fan-Ting; Xi, Min; Li, Yue; Kong, Fan-Long; Chen, Wan

2013-04-01

Wetland is an ecological landscape with most biodiversity in nature, which has unique ecological structure and function, and contains abundant natural resources to provide material guarantee for human's living and development. Wetland landscape pattern is the comprehensive result of various ecological processes, and has become a hot issue in wetland ecological study. At present, the combination of geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing (RS) technologies is an important way to study the wetland landscape pattern change. This paper reviewed the research progress in the wetland landscape change based on GIS and RS from the aspects of the research methods of wetland landscape pattern, index of wetland landscape pattern, and driving forces of wetland landscape pattern evolution, and discussed the applications of the combination of GIS and RS in monitoring the wetland landscape pattern change, the index selection of wetland landscape pattern, and the driving mechanisms of the combined action of human and nature. Some deficiencies in the current studies were put forward, and the directions of the future-studies were prospected.

Working in Separate Silos? What Citation Patterns Reveal about Higher Education Research Internationally

Science.gov (United States)

Tight, Malcolm

2014-01-01

Higher education research is a growing, inter-disciplinary and increasingly international field of study. This article examines the citation patterns of articles published in six leading higher education journals--three published in the United States and three published elsewhere in the world--for what they reveal about the development of this…

Comprehensive Lipidome-Wide Profiling Reveals Dynamic Changes of Tea Lipids during Manufacturing Process of Black Tea.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jia; Hua, Jinjie; Zhou, Qinghua; Dong, Chunwang; Wang, Jinjin; Deng, Yuliang; Yuan, Haibo; Jiang, Yongwen

2017-11-22

As important biomolecules in Camellia sinensis L., lipids undergo substantial changes during black tea manufacture, which is considered to contribute to tea sensory quality. However, limited by analytical capacity, detailed lipid composition and its dynamic changes during black tea manufacture remain unclear. Herein, we performed tea lipidome profiling using high resolution liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (LC-MS), which allows simultaneous and robust analysis of 192 individual lipid species in black tea, covering 17 (sub)classes. Furthermore, dynamic changes of tea lipids during black tea manufacture were investigated. Significant alterations of lipid pattern were revealed, involved with chlorophyll degradation, metabolic pathways of glycoglycerolipids, and other extraplastidial membrane lipids. To our knowledge, this report presented most comprehensive coverage of lipid species in black tea. This study provides a global and in-depth metabolic map of tea lipidome during black tea manufacture.

Complex evolutionary patterns revealed by mitochondrial genomes of the domestic horse.

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, T; Li, J; Lin, K; Xiao, H; Wylie, S; Hua, S; Li, H; Zhang, Y-P

2014-01-01

The domestic horse is the most widely used and important stock and recreational animal, valued for its strength and endurance. The energy required by the domestic horse is mainly supplied by mitochondria via oxidative phosphorylation. Thus, selection may have played an essential role in the evolution of the horse mitochondria. Besides, demographic events also affect the DNA polymorphic pattern on mitochondria. To understand the evolutionary patterns of the mitochondria of the domestic horse, we used a deep sequencing approach to obtain the complete sequences of 15 mitochondrial genomes, and four mitochondrial gene sequences, ND6, ATP8, ATP6 and CYTB, collected from 509, 363, 363 and 409 domestic horses, respectively. Evidence of strong substitution rate heterogeneity was found at nonsynonymous sites across the genomes. Signatures of recent positive selection on mtDNA of domestic horse were detected. Specifically, five amino acids in the four mitochondrial genes were identified as the targets of positive selection. Coalescentbased simulations imply that recent population expansion is the most probable explanation for the matrilineal population history for domestic horse. Our findings reveal a complex pattern of non-neutral evolution of the mitochondrial genome in the domestic horses.

Changes to Watershed Hydrology due to Changing Snowmelt Patterns, Michigan, US

Science.gov (United States)

Ford, C.; Kendall, A. D.; Hyndman, D. W.

2017-12-01

With increasing temperatures and changing precipitation patterns associated with global climate change, the future of hydrologic resources related to snowmelt is less certain than ever. Most existing snowmelt hydrology research focuses on mountainous regions such as the western United States, where snowpack is a primary reservoir of available freshwater. Less research has been done on snowmelt hydrology in non-mountainous, temperate middle to upper latitude regions such as the Midwestern US, where snowmelt is still an important contributor to water budgets (and critically summer water supplies). This study examines the changes to watershed hydrology due to changing snowmelt patterns in Michigan, which has a tension line between seasonally-persistent snowpacks in the north, and episodic snowpacks in the south. This transition varies in space and time, and is likely moving northward as a consequence of climate change. Changes to snow and winter weather were statistically determined from output of the NOAA's Snow Data Assimilation System (SNODAS) model along with historical weather data from the Global Historical Climatology Network. Stream data from the USGS, combined with in-house monitoring data from groundwater and soil moisture networks provide insight into the hydrologic changes. Snowmelt in years with warmer winter temperatures tend to end earlier in the year, resulting in earlier peak stream flows. These changes become more noticeable in the northern regions of the state, where snowfall amounts can be amongst the largest in the country. This study also examines the changing spatial transition zone between regions with snow lasting throughout the season and regions with a more episodic snow presence. In an area with some of the largest freshwater resources in the world, significant changes to streamflow and groundwater recharge could impact already stressed ecosystems and local water supplies.

Multivoxel Patterns Reveal Functionally Differentiated Networks Underlying Auditory Feedback Processing of Speech

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Zheng, Zane Z.; Vicente-Grabovetsky, Alejandro; MacDonald, Ewen N.

2013-01-01

The everyday act of speaking involves the complex processes of speech motor control. An important component of control is monitoring, detection, and processing of errors when auditory feedback does not correspond to the intended motor gesture. Here we show, using fMRI and converging operations...... within a multivoxel pattern analysis framework, that this sensorimotor process is supported by functionally differentiated brain networks. During scanning, a real-time speech-tracking system was used to deliver two acoustically different types of distorted auditory feedback or unaltered feedback while...... human participants were vocalizing monosyllabic words, and to present the same auditory stimuli while participants were passively listening. Whole-brain analysis of neural-pattern similarity revealed three functional networks that were differentially sensitive to distorted auditory feedback during...

Patterns of changes in wheelchair exercise capacity after spinal cord injury

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Koppenhagen, C.F.; de Groot, S.; Post, M.W.; Hoekstra, T.; van Asbeck, F.W.; Bongers, H.; Lindeman, E.; van der Woude, L.H.

2013-01-01

Objectives: (1) To identify different patterns of changes in wheelchair exercise capacity in the period between the start of active spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation and 5 years after discharge; (2) to examine the pattern determinants of the change in wheelchair exercise capacity. Design:

Patterns of Changes in Wheelchair Exercise Capacity After Spinal Cord Injury

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Koppenhagen, Casper F.; de Groot, Sonja; Post, Marcel W.; Hoekstra, Trynke; van Asbeck, Floris W.; Bongers, Helma; Lindeman, Eline; van der Woude, Luc H.

Objectives: (1) To identify different patterns of changes in wheelchair exercise capacity in the period between the start of active spinal cord injury (SCI) rehabilitation and 5 years after discharge; (2) to examine the pattern determinants of the change in wheelchair exercise capacity. Design:

Changing and Differentiated Urban Landscape in China: Spatiotemporal Patterns and Driving Forces.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Chuanglin; Li, Guangdong; Wang, Shaojian

2016-03-01

Urban landscape spatiotemporal change patterns and their driving mechanisms in China are poorly understood at the national level. Here we used remote sensing data, landscape metrics, and a spatial econometric model to characterize the spatiotemporal patterns of urban landscape change and investigate its driving forces in China between 1990 and 2005. The results showed that the urban landscape pattern has experienced drastic changes over the past 15 years. Total urban area has expanded approximately 1.61 times, with a 2.98% annual urban-growth rate. Compared to previous single-city studies, although urban areas are expanding rapidly, the overall fragmentation of the urban landscape is decreasing and is more irregular and complex at the national level. We also found a stair-stepping, urban-landscape changing pattern among eastern, central, and western counties. In addition, administrative level, urban size, and hierarchy have effects on the urban landscape pattern. We also found that a combination of landscape metrics can be used to supplement our understanding of the pattern of urbanization. The changes in these metrics are correlated with geographical indicators, socioeconomic factors, infrastructure variables, administrative level factors, policy factors, and historical factors. Our results indicate that the top priority should be strengthening the management of urban planning. A compact and congregate urban landscape may be a good choice of pattern for urban development in China.

Local processes and regional patterns - Interpreting a multi-decadal altimetry record of Greenland Ice Sheet changes

Science.gov (United States)

Csatho, B. M.; Schenk, A. F.; Babonis, G. S.; van den Broeke, M. R.; Kuipers Munneke, P.; van der Veen, C. J.; Khan, S. A.; Porter, D. F.

2016-12-01

This study presents a new, comprehensive reconstruction of Greenland Ice Sheet elevation changes, generated using the Surface Elevation And Change detection (SERAC) approach. 35-year long elevation-change time series (1980-2015) were obtained at more than 150,000 locations from observations acquired by NASA's airborne and spaceborne laser altimeters (ATM, LVIS, ICESat), PROMICE laser altimetry data (2007-2011) and a DEM covering the ice sheet margin derived from stereo aerial photographs (1970s-80s). After removing the effect of Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) and the elastic crustal response to changes in ice loading, the time series were partitioned into changes due to surface processes and ice dynamics and then converted into mass change histories. Using gridded products, we examined ice sheet elevation, and mass change patterns, and compared them with other estimates at different scales from individual outlet glaciers through large drainage basins, on to the entire ice sheet. Both the SERAC time series and the grids derived from these time series revealed significant spatial and temporal variations of dynamic mass loss and widespread intermittent thinning, indicating the complexity of ice sheet response to climate forcing. To investigate the regional and local controls of ice dynamics, we examined thickness change time series near outlet glacier grounding lines. Changes on most outlet glaciers were consistent with one or more episodes of dynamic thinning that propagates upstream from the glacier terminus. The spatial pattern of the onset, duration, and termination of these dynamic thinning events suggest a regional control, such as warming ocean and air temperatures. However, the intricate spatiotemporal pattern of dynamic thickness change suggests that, regardless of the forcing responsible for initial glacier acceleration and thinning, the response of individual glaciers is modulated by local conditions. We use statistical methods, such as principal

Adipose tissue fatty acid patterns and changes in anthropometry: a cohort study.

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Christina Catherine Dahm

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Diets rich in n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA, but low in n-6 LC-PUFA and 18:1 trans-fatty acids (TFA, may lower the risk of overweight and obesity. These fatty acids have often been investigated individually. We explored associations between global patterns in adipose tissue fatty acids and changes in anthropometry. METHODS: 34 fatty acid species from adipose tissue biopsies were determined in a random sample of 1100 men and women from a Danish cohort study. We used sex-specific principal component analysis and multiple linear regression to investigate the associations of adipose tissue fatty acid patterns with changes in weight, waist circumference (WC, and WC controlled for changes in body mass index (WC(BMI, adjusting for confounders. RESULTS: 7 principal components were extracted for each sex, explaining 77.6% and 78.3% of fatty acid variation in men and women, respectively. Fatty acid patterns with high levels of TFA tended to be positively associated with changes in weight and WC for both sexes. Patterns with high levels of n-6 LC-PUFA tended to be negatively associated with changes in weight and WC in men, and positively associated in women. Associations with patterns with high levels of n-3 LC-PUFA were dependent on the context of the rest of the fatty acid pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Adipose tissue fatty acid patterns with high levels of TFA may be linked to weight gain, but patterns with high n-3 LC-PUFA did not appear to be linked to weight loss. Associations depended on characteristics of the rest of the pattern.

Continuities and changes in infant attachment patterns across two generations.

Science.gov (United States)

Raby, K Lee; Steele, Ryan D; Carlson, Elizabeth A; Sroufe, L Alan

2015-01-01

This study examined the intergenerational continuities and changes in infant attachment patterns within a higher-risk longitudinal sample of 55 female participants born into poverty. Infant attachment was assessed using the Strange Situation when participants were 12 and 18 months as well as several decades later with participants' children. Paralleling earlier findings from this sample on the stability of attachment patterns from infancy to young adulthood, results provided evidence for intergenerational continuities in attachment disorganization but not security. Children of adults with histories of infant attachment disorganization were at an increased risk of forming disorganized attachments. Although changes in infant attachment patterns across the two generations were not correlated with individuals' caregiving experiences or interpersonal stresses and supports during childhood and adolescence, higher quality social support during adulthood was associated with intergenerational changes from insecure to secure infant-caregiver attachment relationships.

Has climate change disrupted stratification patterns in Lake Victoria ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Has climate change disrupted stratification patterns in Lake Victoria, East Africa? ... Climate change may threaten the fisheries of Lake Victoria by increasing density differentials in the water column, thereby strengthening stratification and increasing the ... Keywords: deoxygenation, fisheries, global warming, thermocline

Groundwater circulation and utilisation in an unconfined carbonate system - revealing the potential effect of climate change and humankind activities

Science.gov (United States)

Tóth, Ádám; Mádl-Szönyi, Judit

2016-04-01

Characteristics of gravitational groundwater flow systems in carbonate regions were presented by Mádl-Szönyi & Tóth (2015) based on theoretical considerations, identification and classification of groundwater flow-related field phenomena and numerical simulation. It was revealed that the changes of flow pattern in carbonate framework attributed to groundwater utilization and/or climate change are more apparent due to the effective hydraulic conductivity of carbonates. Consequently, natural or artificial disturbances of water level propagate farther, deeper and faster in carbonates than in siliciclastic basins. These changes could result in degradation and reorganization of hierarchical flow systems, modification of recharge and discharge areas and even alteration of physicochemical parameters (Mádl-Szönyi & Tóth, 2015). This paper presents the application of the gravity-driven regional groundwater flow concept to the hydrogeologically complex thick carbonate system of the Transdanubian Range, Hungary, depicting the flow pattern of the area and to a practical problem of a local study area, conflicts of interest of water supply and water use of a golf course. The question is how will the natural discharge on the golf course be influenced by the planned karst drinking water production well. In addition, the effects of climate change on this conflict were evaluated. We demonstrate the importance of the understanding the appropriate scale in karst studies and illustrate how the gravity-driven regional groundwater flow concept can help to determine it. For this purpose, the hydrogeological conditions of the study site were examined at different scales. The goals were to define the appropriate scale and reveal the effects of tectonic structures; and give prognoses for the possible impact of a planned drinking water well and climate change on the golf course based on numerical simulation. The study also showed the low geothermal potential of the area.

Seasonal climate change patterns due to cumulative CO2 emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Partanen, Antti-Ilari; Leduc, Martin; Damon Matthews, H.

2017-07-01

Cumulative CO2 emissions are near linearly related to both global and regional changes in annual-mean surface temperature. These relationships are known as the transient climate response to cumulative CO2 emissions (TCRE) and the regional TCRE (RTCRE), and have been shown to remain approximately constant over a wide range of cumulative emissions. Here, we assessed how well this relationship holds for seasonal patterns of temperature change, as well as for annual-mean and seasonal precipitation patterns. We analyzed an idealized scenario with CO2 concentration growing at an annual rate of 1% using data from 12 Earth system models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). Seasonal RTCRE values for temperature varied considerably, with the highest seasonal variation evident in the Arctic, where RTCRE was about 5.5 °C per Tt C for boreal winter and about 2.0 °C per Tt C for boreal summer. Also the precipitation response in the Arctic during boreal winter was stronger than during other seasons. We found that emission-normalized seasonal patterns of temperature change were relatively robust with respect to time, though they were sub-linear with respect to emissions particularly near the Arctic. Moreover, RTCRE patterns for precipitation could not be quantified robustly due to the large internal variability of precipitation. Our results suggest that cumulative CO2 emissions are a useful metric to predict regional and seasonal changes in precipitation and temperature. This extension of the TCRE framework to seasonal and regional climate change is helpful for communicating the link between emissions and climate change to policy-makers and the general public, and is well-suited for impact studies that could make use of estimated regional-scale climate changes that are consistent with the carbon budgets associated with global temperature targets.

Growth patterns of an intertidal gastropod as revealed by oxygen isotope analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Bean, J. R.; Hill, T. M.; Guerra, C.

2007-12-01

The size and morphology of mollusk shells are affected by environmental conditions. As a result, it is difficult to assess growth rate, population age structure, shell morphologies associated with ontogenetic stages, and to compare life history patterns across various environments. Oxygen isotope analysis is a useful tool for estimating minimum ages and growth rates of calcium carbonate secreting organisms. Calcite shell material from members of two northern California populations of the intertidal muricid gastropod Acanthinucella spirata was sampled for isotopic analysis. Individual shells were sampled from apex to margin, thus providing a sequential record of juvenile and adult growth. A. spirata were collected from a sheltered habitat in Tomales Bay and from an exposed reef in Bolinas. Abiotic factors, such as temperature, wave exposure, and substrate consistency, and biotic composition differ significantly between these sites, possibly resulting in local adaptations and variation in life history and growth patterns. Shell morphology of A. spirata changes with age as internal shell margin thickenings of denticle rows associated with external growth bands are irregularly accreted. It is not known when, either seasonally and/or ontogentically, these thickenings and bands form or whether inter or intra-populational variation exists. Preliminary results demonstrate the seasonal oxygen isotopic variability present at the two coastal sites, indicating 5-6 degC changes from winter to summertime temperatures; these data are consistent with local intertidal temperature records. Analysis of the seasonal patterns indicate that: 1) differences in growth rate and seasonal growth patterns at different ontogenetic stages within populations, and 2) differences in growth patterns and possibly age structure between the two A. spirata populations. These findings indicate that isotopic analyses, in addition to field observations and morphological measurements, are necessary to

Changing Pattern and Relation with Technological Level of the Korean and Japanese Export Competitiveness

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Yongyul Kim

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to explore empirically whether export competitiveness of Korea and Japan has changed since 1990s. Unlike existing literature, we tried to grasp changing patterns of export competitiveness by new methodology such as belonging quadrant and moving direction, rather than simply showing its trend or comparison classified by industry. And we categorized 48 sectors into some technological levelsThe purpose of this paper is to explore empirically whether export competitiveness of Korea and Japan has changed since 1990s. Unlike existing literature, we tried to grasp changing patterns of export competitiveness by new methodology such as belonging quadrant and moving direction, rather than simply showing its trend or comparison classified by industry. And we categorized 48 sectors into some technological levels, then analyzed how the change of export competitiveness is distributed by each technological level. When seeing 'revealed comparative advantage' and 'trade specification index', we found considerable changes in export competitiveness. Competitiveness of Korea has rapidly improved while that of Japan has been continuously decreasing. Especially the gap of competitiveness between Korea and Japan has largely reduced around the midterm of 2000s. Shrinking of the gap in export competitiveness has begun from the latter half of 1990s and first half of 2000s. Change of export competitiveness shows different trend by technology level. Korea has gained more competitiveness than Japan in high and middle level of technology. Korea shows upward tendency of competitiveness in mid and high technology, while Japan in low technology. Competitiveness gap between Korea and Japan is rapidly decreasing since the late 1990s, and curtailment of the gap is mainly happening in the high level of technological capabilities.

Pandimensional field pattern changes in healers and healees: experiencing therapeutic touch.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Dorothy Woods; Broida, John P

2007-12-01

Rogers's Science of Unitary Human Beings framed this study of pandimensional pattern changes in healers and healees paired for an 8-week series of Therapeutic Touch (TT) sessions. Comparison of healee patterns before and after 141 TT sessions supported the hypotheses that healees would manifest decreased pulse and blood pressure, and reduced pain and stress (p < .05). Duration of TT sessions was not preset but determined by healers according to energy cues. TT time was not related to pattern changes, consistent with the clinical practice of TT and the atemporal nature of Rogers's conceptual framework. Healers and healees showed parallel changes after the TT series. Participants manifested greater spirituality (p <.05). Although increases in three of the four dimensions of power were significant (p <.05), changes in power measured as a whole were not. Contrary to expectations, manifestations of diversity were decreased in healers and healees.

Cross-shelf investigation of coral reef cryptic benthic organisms reveals diversity patterns of the hidden majority

KAUST Repository

Pearman, John K.

2018-05-18

Coral reefs harbor diverse assemblages of organisms yet the majority of this diversity is hidden within the three dimensional structure of the reef and neglected using standard visual surveys. This study uses Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) and amplicon sequencing methodologies, targeting mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and 18S rRNA genes, to investigate changes in the cryptic reef biodiversity. ARMS, deployed at 11 sites across a near- to off-shore gradient in the Red Sea were dominated by Porifera (sessile fraction), Arthropoda and Annelida (mobile fractions). The two primer sets detected different taxa lists, but patterns in community composition and structure were similar. While the microhabitat of the ARMS deployment affected the community structure, a clear cross-shelf gradient was observed for all fractions investigated. The partitioning of beta-diversity revealed that replacement (i.e. the substitution of species) made the highest contribution with richness playing a smaller role. Hence, different reef habitats across the shelf are relevant to regional diversity, as they harbor different communities, a result with clear implications for the design of Marine Protected Areas. ARMS can be vital tools to assess biodiversity patterns in the generally neglected but species-rich cryptic benthos, providing invaluable information for the management and conservation of hard-bottomed habitats over local and global scales.

Activity patterns of free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus revealed by accelerometry.

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Michelle A Ryan

Full Text Available An understanding of koala activity patterns is important for measuring the behavioral response of this species to environmental change, but to date has been limited by the logistical challenges of traditional field methodologies. We addressed this knowledge gap by using tri-axial accelerometer data loggers attached to VHF radio collars to examine activity patterns of adult male and female koalas in a high-density population at Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia. Data were obtained from 27 adult koalas over two 7-d periods during the breeding season: 12 in the early-breeding season in November 2010, and 15 in the late-breeding season in January 2011. Multiple 15 minute observation blocks on each animal were used for validation of activity patterns determined from the accelerometer data loggers. Accelerometry was effective in distinguishing between inactive (sleeping, resting and active (grooming, feeding and moving behaviors. Koalas were more active during the early-breeding season with a higher index of movement (overall dynamic body acceleration [ODBA] for both males and females. Koalas showed a distinct temporal pattern of behavior, with most activity occurring from mid-afternoon to early morning. Accelerometry has potential for examining fine-scale behavior of a wide range of arboreal and terrestrial species.

Activity patterns of free-ranging koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) revealed by accelerometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Michelle A; Whisson, Desley A; Holland, Greg J; Arnould, John P Y

2013-01-01

An understanding of koala activity patterns is important for measuring the behavioral response of this species to environmental change, but to date has been limited by the logistical challenges of traditional field methodologies. We addressed this knowledge gap by using tri-axial accelerometer data loggers attached to VHF radio collars to examine activity patterns of adult male and female koalas in a high-density population at Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia. Data were obtained from 27 adult koalas over two 7-d periods during the breeding season: 12 in the early-breeding season in November 2010, and 15 in the late-breeding season in January 2011. Multiple 15 minute observation blocks on each animal were used for validation of activity patterns determined from the accelerometer data loggers. Accelerometry was effective in distinguishing between inactive (sleeping, resting) and active (grooming, feeding and moving) behaviors. Koalas were more active during the early-breeding season with a higher index of movement (overall dynamic body acceleration [ODBA]) for both males and females. Koalas showed a distinct temporal pattern of behavior, with most activity occurring from mid-afternoon to early morning. Accelerometry has potential for examining fine-scale behavior of a wide range of arboreal and terrestrial species.

Gestational dietary patterns are not associated with blood pressure changes during pregnancy and early postpartum in a Brazilian prospective cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Eshriqui, Ilana; Vilela, Ana Amélia Freitas; Rebelo, Fernanda; Farias, Dayana Rodrigues; Castro, Maria Beatriz Trindade; Kac, Gilberto

2016-02-01

To identify gestational dietary patterns and evaluate the association between these patterns and the blood pressure (BP) rate of change during pregnancy and the postpartum. Prospective cohort study composed of 191 healthy pregnant women. Systolic BP (SBP) and diastolic BP (DBP) were obtained at the 5th-13th, 20th-26th, 30th-36th gestational weeks, and with 30-45 days postpartum. A food frequency questionnaire administered at the 30th-36th gestational week was used to measure dietary intake during pregnancy. Principal component analysis was performed to identify the dietary patterns. A longitudinal linear mixed-effects regression model was used to evaluate the association between the dietary patterns and BP (adjusted for time elapsed after conception and the women's age, education, parity, body mass index and total energy intake). Three gestational dietary patterns were identified: healthy, common-Brazilian and processed. SBP/DBP mean values (SD) were 110.1 (9.0)/66.9 (7.5), 108.7 (9.0)/64.9 (6.7), 111.3 (9.2)/67.0 (6.9) and 115.0 (10.7)/73.7 (8.6) mmHg at the first, second and third gestational trimesters and postpartum, respectively. Women with higher/lower adherence to the processed pattern presented SBP of 117.9 and 113.0 mmHg (P = 0.037), respectively, during postpartum. No association was found between any of the three dietary patterns and SBP in the multiple longitudinal linear regression models, whereas 1 SD increase in the common-Brazilian pattern was associated with a small change of DBP (β = 0.0006; 95% CI 4.66e-06, 0.001; P = 0.048). The three dietary patterns identified revealed no association with changes of SBP and DBP levels during pregnancy and at early postpartum in this sample of healthy Brazilian women.

Changes in Diversification Patterns and Signatures of Selection during the Evolution of Murinae-Associated Hantaviruses

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Guillaume Castel

2014-03-01

Full Text Available In the last 50 years, hantaviruses have significantly affected public health worldwide, but the exact extent of the distribution of hantavirus diseases, species and lineages and the risk of their emergence into new geographic areas are still poorly known. In particular, the determinants of molecular evolution of hantaviruses circulating in different geographical areas or different host species are poorly documented. Yet, this understanding is essential for the establishment of more accurate scenarios of hantavirus emergence under different climatic and environmental constraints. In this study, we focused on Murinae-associated hantaviruses (mainly Seoul Dobrava and Hantaan virus using sequences available in GenBank and conducted several complementary phylogenetic inferences. We sought for signatures of selection and changes in patterns and rates of diversification in order to characterize hantaviruses’ molecular evolution at different geographical scales (global and local. We then investigated whether these events were localized in particular geographic areas. Our phylogenetic analyses supported the assumption that RNA virus molecular variations were under strong evolutionary constraints and revealed changes in patterns of diversification during the evolutionary history of hantaviruses. These analyses provide new knowledge on the molecular evolution of hantaviruses at different scales of time and space.

Changing Throwing Pattern: Instruction and Control Parameter

Science.gov (United States)

Southard, Dan

2006-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of instruction and scaling up a control parameter (velocity of throw) on changes in throwing pattern. Sixty adult female throwers (ages 20-26 years) were randomly placed into one of four practice conditions: (a) scale up on velocity with no instruction, (b) maintain constant velocity with no…

Analysis of the effects of change in cropping pattern due to drought on saffron production in rural areas of the Zebarkhan district villages

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Hamdollah Sojasi Qidari

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Selection of a given cropping pattern can have serious results on the farmers’ life and rural society because of the multi dimensionality of agriculture. However, in many cases, farmers are inclined to change the cropping pattern because of changes in natural situations, changes in demand and consumption, etc. One of the most important and effective factors of change cropping pattern amongst Iranian farmers in recent years is the drought problem. One of the more current cultural method changes in the Khorasan region is inclination to saffron cultivation that can have various economic, social and environmental effects. Thus, this research paid attention to the investigation of changes from cultivation method from drought to the economic, social and environmental dimensions of saffron production amongst the villagers of the Zebarkhan district of the Khorasan Razavi province. Analytical-description methodology was used for this purpose. Data collection was done using the library- field methodology with researcher’s questionnaire whose narrative is 0.78 according to Cronbach's alpha method. Therefore, by using the Cochran formula with the intended level of 0.05, 142 farmers have been selected by available sampling method that have changed their cropping pattern to saffron production because of water shortages and drought. Then, their ideas were analyzed considering cases of economic, social and environmental effects of cropping pattern change to saffron production. The results showed meaningful changes in all research indices except for increase of cultivation surface area. Moreover, the most important changes of cropping pattern and switching over to saffron production have been identified using the Shannon entropy weighing method. In addition, the shown the revealed with continuation of differences of the changes in cropping pattern of saffron between the various villages were analyzed by using the multi-index TOPSIS. Finally, it was shown

MAMP (microbe-associated molecular pattern)-induced changes in plasma membrane-associated proteins.

Science.gov (United States)

Uhlíková, Hana; Solanský, Martin; Hrdinová, Vendula; Šedo, Ondrej; Kašparovský, Tomáš; Hejátko, Jan; Lochman, Jan

2017-03-01

Plant plasma membrane associated proteins play significant roles in Microbe-Associated Molecular Pattern (MAMP) mediated defence responses including signal transduction, membrane transport or energetic metabolism. To elucidate the dynamics of proteins associated with plasma membrane in response to cryptogein, a well-known MAMP of defence reaction secreted by the oomycete Phytophthora cryptogea, 2D-Blue Native/SDS gel electrophoresis of plasma membrane fractions was employed. This approach revealed 21 up- or down-regulated protein spots of which 15 were successfully identified as proteins related to transport through plasma membrane, vesicle trafficking, and metabolic enzymes including cytosolic NADP-malic enzyme and glutamine synthetase. Observed changes in proteins were also confirmed on transcriptional level by qRT-PCR analysis. In addition, a significantly decreased accumulation of transcripts observed after employment of a mutant variant of cryptogein Leu41Phe, exhibiting a conspicuous defect in induction of resistance, sustains the contribution of identified proteins in cryptogein-triggered cellular responses. Our data provide further evidence for dynamic MAMP-induced changes in plasma membrane associated proteins. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Adipose tissue Fatty Acid patterns and changes in antrhropometry

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dahm, Christina Catherine; Gorst-Rasmussen, Anders; Jakobsen, Marianne Uhre

2011-01-01

Introduction Diets rich in n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), but low in n-6 LC-PUFA and 18:1 trans-fatty acids (TFA), may lower the risk of overweight and obesity. These fatty acids have often been investigated individually. We explored associations between global patterns...... in adipose tissue fatty acids and changes in anthropometry. Methods 34 fatty acid species from adipose tissue biopsies were determined in a random sample of 1100 men and women from a Danish cohort study. We used sex-specific principal component analysis and multiple linear regression to investigate...... the associations of adipose tissue fatty acid patterns with changes in weight, waist circumference (WC), and WC controlled for changes in body mass index (WCBMI), adjusting for confounders. Results 7 principal components were extracted for each sex, explaining 77.6% and 78.3% of fatty acid variation in men...

Dynamic Changes of Landscape Pattern and Vulnerability Analysis in Qingyi River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Ziwei; Xie, Chaoying; He, Xiaohui; Guo, Hengliang; Wang, Li

2017-11-01

Environmental vulnerability research is one of the core areas of global environmental change research. Over the past 10 years, ecologically fragile zones or transition zones had been significantly affected by environmental degradation and climate change and human activities. In this paper, we analyzed the spatial and temporal changes of landscape pattern and landscape vulnerability degree in Qingyi River Basin by calculating the landscape sensitivity index and landscape restoration degree index based on Landsat images of 2005, 2010 and 2015. The results showed that: (1) The top conversion area was farmland, woodland and grassland area decreased, city land and rural residential land increased fastest. (2) The fragility of the landscape pattern along the Qingyi River gradually increased between 2005 and 2015, the downstream area was influenced by the influence of human activities. (3) Landscape pattern changes and fragility are mainly affected by urbanization. These findings are helpful for understanding the evolution of landscape pattern as well as urban ecology, which both have significant implications for urban planning and minimize the potential environmental impacts of urbanization in Qingyi River Basin.

Changes in running pattern due to fatigue and cognitive load in orienteering.

Science.gov (United States)

Millet, Guillaume Y; Divert, Caroline; Banizette, Marion; Morin, Jean-Benoit

2010-01-01

The aim of this study was to examine the influence of fatigue on running biomechanics in normal running, in normal running with a cognitive task, and in running while map reading. Nineteen international and less experienced orienteers performed a fatiguing running exercise of duration and intensity similar to a classic distance orienteering race on an instrumented treadmill while performing mental arithmetic, an orienteering simulation, and control running at regular intervals. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variance did not reveal any significant difference between mental arithmetic and control running for any of the kinematic and kinetic parameters analysed eight times over the fatiguing protocol. However, these parameters were systematically different between the orienteering simulation and the other two conditions (mental arithmetic and control running). The adaptations in orienteering simulation running were significantly more pronounced in the elite group when step frequency, peak vertical ground reaction force, vertical stiffness, and maximal downward displacement of the centre of mass during contact were considered. The effects of fatigue on running biomechanics depended on whether the orienteers read their map or ran normally. It is concluded that adding a cognitive load does not modify running patterns. Therefore, all changes in running pattern observed during the orienteering simulation, particularly in elite orienteers, are the result of adaptations to enable efficient map reading and/or potentially prevent injuries. Finally, running patterns are not affected to the same extent by fatigue when a map reading task is added.

Impacts of Climate Change on Tibetan Lakes: Patterns and Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dehua Mao

2018-02-01

Full Text Available High-altitude inland-drainage lakes on the Tibetan Plateau (TP, the earth’s third pole, are very sensitive to climate change. Tibetan lakes are important natural resources with important religious, historical, and cultural significance. However, the spatial patterns and processes controlling the impacts of climate and associated changes on Tibetan lakes are largely unknown. This study used long time series and multi-temporal Landsat imagery to map the patterns of Tibetan lakes and glaciers in 1977, 1990, 2000, and 2014, and further to assess the spatiotemporal changes of lakes and glaciers in 17 TP watersheds between 1977 and 2014. Spatially variable changes in lake and glacier area as well as climatic factors were analyzed. We identified four modes of lake change in response to climate and associated changes. Lake expansion was predominantly attributed to increased precipitation and glacier melting, whereas lake shrinkage was a main consequence of a drier climate or permafrost degradation. These findings shed new light on the impacts of recent environmental changes on Tibetan lakes. They suggest that protecting these high-altitude lakes in the face of further environmental change will require spatially variable policies and management measures.

Geometric Mechanics Reveals Optimal Complex Terrestrial Undulation Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Gong, Chaohui; Astley, Henry; Schiebel, Perrin; Dai, Jin; Travers, Matthew; Goldman, Daniel; Choset, Howie; CMU Team; GT Team

Geometric mechanics offers useful tools for intuitively analyzing biological and robotic locomotion. However, utility of these tools were previously restricted to systems that have only two internal degrees of freedom and in uniform media. We show kinematics of complex locomotors that make intermittent contacts with substrates can be approximated as a linear combination of two shape bases, and can be represented using two variables. Therefore, the tools of geometric mechanics can be used to analyze motions of locomotors with many degrees of freedom. To demonstrate the proposed technique, we present studies on two different types of snake gaits which utilize combinations of waves in the horizontal and vertical planes: sidewinding (in the sidewinder rattlesnake C. cerastes) and lateral undulation (in the desert specialist snake C. occipitalis). C. cerastes moves by generating posteriorly traveling body waves in the horizontal and vertical directions, with a relative phase offset equal to +/-π/2 while C. occipitalismaintains a π/2 offset of a frequency doubled vertical wave. Geometric analysis reveals these coordination patterns enable optimal movement in the two different styles of undulatory terrestrial locomotion. More broadly, these examples demonstrate the utility of geometric mechanics in analyzing realistic biological and robotic locomotion.

Patterns of call communication between group-housed zebra finches change during the breeding cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Lisa F; Goymann, Wolfgang; Ter Maat, Andries; Gahr, Manfred

2015-10-06

Vocal signals such as calls play a crucial role for survival and successful reproduction, especially in group-living animals. However, call interactions and call dynamics within groups remain largely unexplored because their relation to relevant contexts or life-history stages could not be studied with individual-level resolution. Using on-bird microphone transmitters, we recorded the vocalisations of individual zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) behaving freely in social groups, while females and males previously unknown to each other passed through different stages of the breeding cycle. As birds formed pairs and shifted their reproductive status, their call repertoire composition changed. The recordings revealed that calls occurred non-randomly in fine-tuned vocal interactions and decreased within groups while pair-specific patterns emerged. Call-type combinations of vocal interactions changed within pairs and were associated with successful egg-laying, highlighting a potential fitness relevance of calling dynamics in communication systems.

[Changes of regional environment quality pattern in China since 1986-2008].

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Wei-Hua; Sun, Ming-Kun; Lu, Yu-Qi

2011-03-01

For further study of regional differences and the pattern of changes in environmental quality in China since 1986-2008, we perform the principal component analysis, standard deviation, Mann-Kendall and cluster analysis on 18 environmental quality indexes in 28 provinces of China in this paper. Those indexes refer to pollutant emission, pollutants treatment capacities and pollutant emission of per unit land area, etc. The paper indicates that regional environmental quality in China has been increased slightly during this period. It can be divided into four stages: 1986-2000, 2000-2001, 2001-2005 and 2005-2008. The overall patterns of regional environmental quality is the West is higher than the East in general, while the environmental quality of the eastern part have been changed somewhat. For more details, the regional environmental quality in China in 1986 is composed of two parts, the eastern part and the western part, while in 2000 and 2001 the eastern part, the middle part and the western part appears as the overall pattern. For the year of 2005, the regional environmental quality in the western is higher than that of the eastern; meanwhile, the eastern can be divided into the northern part, the middle part and the southern part, and the environmental quality in northern part is better than that of the southern part, southern part is better than that of the middle part. This pattern hardly changed in 2008, except that the area with poor environment quality region had expanded. Pollutant emission of per unit land area played as a main factor; yet both the pollutant emission and the reuse of pollutants impacted the pattern specifically. In addition, the national macro policies, the regional policies, the regional economic and the industrial structure can be primary reason for the change of regional environmental quality pattern in China as well.

Determining intervention thresholds that change output behavior patterns

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Walrave, B.

2016-01-01

This paper details a semi-automated method that can calculate intervention thresholds—that is, the minimum required intervention sizes, over a given time frame, that result in a desired change in a system’s output behavior pattern. The method exploits key differences in atomic behavior profiles that

Patterns in household-level engagement with climate change in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Bohensky, Erin L.; Smajgl, Alex; Brewer, Tom

2013-04-01

Understanding how individuals engage with climate change is critical for developing successful climate adaptation policies. Indonesia ranks among the world's top CO2 emitters, affirming its relevance to the global climate change policy arena, yet the dynamics of climate change engagement in Indonesia may differ from developed countries from which much research on this issue derives. We surveyed 6,310 households in two Indonesian regions to investigate patterns in four steps of engagement: observation, risk perception, reactive action (in response to present climate change) and proactive action (in anticipation of future climate change). We show that 89.5% of households exhibited a pattern whereby taking each of these steps in sequence implied taking all steps that precede it. Exceptions occurred in urban areas, where households were more likely to take action without having observed climate change or perceiving risks. In rural areas, households were more likely to observe climate change without taking action. These variations suggest a potentially nonlinear relationship between steps of engagement. We distinguish three types of household requiring adaptation support, and stress that Indonesian climate policy should shift emphasis from raising awareness to identifying broader institutional structures and processes to facilitate household engagement.

Prospective Associations between Dietary Patterns and Body Composition Changes in European Children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fernández-Alvira, Juan Miguel; Bammann, Karin; Eiben, Gabriele

2017-01-01

pattern or changing from a processed pattern to a sweet pattern presented the most unfavourable changes in fat mass and abdominal fat. These findings support the need to promote overall healthy dietary habits in obesity prevention and health promotion programmes targeting children....... frequencies of consumption of forty-three food items and regression models were fitted to assess the association between dietary patterns and body composition changes. Setting: Primary schools and pre-schools of selected regions in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Hungary, Germany and Spain. Subjects...... consistently allocated to the ‘processed’ cluster presented increased BMI (β=0·050; 95 % CI 0·006, 0·093), increased waist circumference (β=0·071; 95 % CI 0·001, 0·141) and increased fat mass gain (β=0·052; 95 % CI 0·014, 0·090) over time v. children allocated to the ‘healthy’ cluster. Being in the ‘processed...

Revisiting the Neural Basis of Acquired Amusia: Lesion Patterns and Structural Changes Underlying Amusia Recovery.

Science.gov (United States)

Sihvonen, Aleksi J; Ripollés, Pablo; Rodríguez-Fornells, Antoni; Soinila, Seppo; Särkämö, Teppo

2017-01-01

Although, acquired amusia is a common deficit following stroke, relatively little is still known about its precise neural basis, let alone to its recovery. Recently, we performed a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) and morphometry (VBM) study which revealed a right lateralized lesion pattern, and longitudinal gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter volume (WMV) changes that were specifically associated with acquired amusia after stroke. In the present study, using a larger sample of stroke patients ( N = 90), we aimed to replicate and extend the previous structural findings as well as to determine the lesion patterns and volumetric changes associated with amusia recovery. Structural MRIs were acquired at acute and 6-month post-stroke stages. Music perception was behaviorally assessed at acute and 3-month post-stroke stages using the Scale and Rhythm subtests of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA). Using these scores, the patients were classified as non-amusic, recovered amusic, and non-recovered amusic. The results of the acute stage VLSM analyses and the longitudinal VBM analyses converged to show that more severe and persistent (non-recovered) amusia was associated with an extensive pattern of lesions and GMV/WMV decrease in right temporal, frontal, parietal, striatal, and limbic areas. In contrast, less severe and transient (recovered) amusia was linked to lesions specifically in left inferior frontal gyrus as well as to a GMV decrease in right parietal areas. Separate continuous analyses of MBEA Scale and Rhythm scores showed extensively overlapping lesion pattern in right temporal, frontal, and subcortical structures as well as in the right insula. Interestingly, the recovered pitch amusia was related to smaller GMV decreases in the temporoparietal junction whereas the recovered rhythm amusia was associated to smaller GMV decreases in the inferior temporal pole. Overall, the results provide a more comprehensive picture of the lesions

Revisiting the Neural Basis of Acquired Amusia: Lesion Patterns and Structural Changes Underlying Amusia Recovery

Science.gov (United States)

Sihvonen, Aleksi J.; Ripollés, Pablo; Rodríguez-Fornells, Antoni; Soinila, Seppo; Särkämö, Teppo

2017-01-01

Although, acquired amusia is a common deficit following stroke, relatively little is still known about its precise neural basis, let alone to its recovery. Recently, we performed a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM) and morphometry (VBM) study which revealed a right lateralized lesion pattern, and longitudinal gray matter volume (GMV) and white matter volume (WMV) changes that were specifically associated with acquired amusia after stroke. In the present study, using a larger sample of stroke patients (N = 90), we aimed to replicate and extend the previous structural findings as well as to determine the lesion patterns and volumetric changes associated with amusia recovery. Structural MRIs were acquired at acute and 6-month post-stroke stages. Music perception was behaviorally assessed at acute and 3-month post-stroke stages using the Scale and Rhythm subtests of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA). Using these scores, the patients were classified as non-amusic, recovered amusic, and non-recovered amusic. The results of the acute stage VLSM analyses and the longitudinal VBM analyses converged to show that more severe and persistent (non-recovered) amusia was associated with an extensive pattern of lesions and GMV/WMV decrease in right temporal, frontal, parietal, striatal, and limbic areas. In contrast, less severe and transient (recovered) amusia was linked to lesions specifically in left inferior frontal gyrus as well as to a GMV decrease in right parietal areas. Separate continuous analyses of MBEA Scale and Rhythm scores showed extensively overlapping lesion pattern in right temporal, frontal, and subcortical structures as well as in the right insula. Interestingly, the recovered pitch amusia was related to smaller GMV decreases in the temporoparietal junction whereas the recovered rhythm amusia was associated to smaller GMV decreases in the inferior temporal pole. Overall, the results provide a more comprehensive picture of the lesions

Revisiting the Neural Basis of Acquired Amusia: Lesion Patterns and Structural Changes Underlying Amusia Recovery

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aleksi J. Sihvonen

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Although, acquired amusia is a common deficit following stroke, relatively little is still known about its precise neural basis, let alone to its recovery. Recently, we performed a voxel-based lesion-symptom mapping (VLSM and morphometry (VBM study which revealed a right lateralized lesion pattern, and longitudinal gray matter volume (GMV and white matter volume (WMV changes that were specifically associated with acquired amusia after stroke. In the present study, using a larger sample of stroke patients (N = 90, we aimed to replicate and extend the previous structural findings as well as to determine the lesion patterns and volumetric changes associated with amusia recovery. Structural MRIs were acquired at acute and 6-month post-stroke stages. Music perception was behaviorally assessed at acute and 3-month post-stroke stages using the Scale and Rhythm subtests of the Montreal Battery of Evaluation of Amusia (MBEA. Using these scores, the patients were classified as non-amusic, recovered amusic, and non-recovered amusic. The results of the acute stage VLSM analyses and the longitudinal VBM analyses converged to show that more severe and persistent (non-recovered amusia was associated with an extensive pattern of lesions and GMV/WMV decrease in right temporal, frontal, parietal, striatal, and limbic areas. In contrast, less severe and transient (recovered amusia was linked to lesions specifically in left inferior frontal gyrus as well as to a GMV decrease in right parietal areas. Separate continuous analyses of MBEA Scale and Rhythm scores showed extensively overlapping lesion pattern in right temporal, frontal, and subcortical structures as well as in the right insula. Interestingly, the recovered pitch amusia was related to smaller GMV decreases in the temporoparietal junction whereas the recovered rhythm amusia was associated to smaller GMV decreases in the inferior temporal pole. Overall, the results provide a more comprehensive picture of

Long-term acoustical observations of the mesopelagic fish Maurolicus muelleri reveal novel and varied vertical migration patterns

KAUST Repository

Staby, A; Rø stad, Anders; Kaartvedt, Stein

2011-01-01

. The data revealed known patterns as normal diel vertical migration (DVM), midnight sinking between dusk and dawn, and periods without migrations, as well as novel behaviours consisting of early morning ascents, reverse diel vertical migrations

Transcriptome analysis reveals novel patterning and pigmentation genes underlying Heliconius butterfly wing pattern variation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hines Heather M

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Heliconius butterfly wing pattern diversity offers a unique opportunity to investigate how natural genetic variation can drive the evolution of complex adaptive phenotypes. Positional cloning and candidate gene studies have identified a handful of regulatory and pigmentation genes implicated in Heliconius wing pattern variation, but little is known about the greater developmental networks within which these genes interact to pattern a wing. Here we took a large-scale transcriptomic approach to identify the network of genes involved in Heliconius wing pattern development and variation. This included applying over 140 transcriptome microarrays to assay gene expression in dissected wing pattern elements across a range of developmental stages and wing pattern morphs of Heliconius erato. Results We identified a number of putative early prepattern genes with color-pattern related expression domains. We also identified 51 genes differentially expressed in association with natural color pattern variation. Of these, the previously identified color pattern “switch gene” optix was recovered as the first transcript to show color-specific differential expression. Most differentially expressed genes were transcribed late in pupal development and have roles in cuticle formation or pigment synthesis. These include previously undescribed transporter genes associated with ommochrome pigmentation. Furthermore, we observed upregulation of melanin-repressing genes such as ebony and Dat1 in non-melanic patterns. Conclusions This study identifies many new genes implicated in butterfly wing pattern development and provides a glimpse into the number and types of genes affected by variation in genes that drive color pattern evolution.

How They Move Reveals What Is Happening: Understanding the Dynamics of Big Events from Human Mobility Pattern

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jean Damascène Mazimpaka

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The context in which a moving object moves contributes to the movement pattern observed. Likewise, the movement pattern reflects the properties of the movement context. In particular, big events influence human mobility depending on the dynamics of the events. However, this influence has not been explored to understand big events. In this paper, we propose a methodology for learning about big events from human mobility pattern. The methodology involves extracting and analysing the stopping, approaching, and moving-away interactions between public transportation vehicles and the geographic context. The analysis is carried out at two different temporal granularity levels to discover global and local patterns. The results of evaluating this methodology on bus trajectories demonstrate that it can discover occurrences of big events from mobility patterns, roughly estimate the event start and end time, and reveal the temporal patterns of arrival and departure of event attendees. This knowledge can be usefully applied in transportation and event planning and management.

Patterns and biases of climate change threats in the IUCN Red List.

Science.gov (United States)

Trull, Nicholas; Böhm, Monika; Carr, Jamie

2018-02-01

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessments rely on published data and expert inputs, and biases can be introduced where underlying definitions and concepts are ambiguous. Consideration of climate change threat is no exception, and recently numerous approaches to assessing the threat of climate change to species have been developed. We explored IUCN Red List assessments of amphibians and birds to determine whether species listed as threatened by climate change display distinct patterns in terms of habitat occupied and additional nonclimatic threats faced. We compared IUCN Red List data with a published data set of species' biological and ecological traits believed to infer high vulnerability to climate change and determined whether distributions of climate change-threatened species on the IUCN Red List concur with those of climate change-threatened species identified with the trait-based approach and whether species possessing these traits are more likely to have climate change listed as a threat on the IUCN Red List. Species in some ecosystems (e.g., grassland, shrubland) and subject to particular threats (e.g., invasive species) were more likely to have climate change as a listed threat. Geographical patterns of climate change-threatened amphibians and birds on the IUCN Red List were incongruent with patterns of global species richness and patterns identified using trait-based approaches. Certain traits were linked to increases or decreases in the likelihood of a species being threatened by climate change. Broad temperature tolerance of a species was consistently related to an increased likelihood of climate change threat, indicating counterintuitive relationships in IUCN assessments. To improve the robustness of species assessments of the vulnerability or extinction risk associated with climate change, we suggest IUCN adopt a more cohesive approach whereby specific traits highlighted by our results are considered in Red List

Movement patterns and dispersal potential of Pecos bluntnose shiner (Notropis simus pecosensis) revealed using otolith microchemistry

Science.gov (United States)

Chase, Nathan M.; Caldwell, Colleen A.; Carleton, Scott A.; Gould, William R.; Hobbs, James A.

2015-01-01

Natal origin and dispersal potential of the federally threatened Pecos bluntnose shiner (Notropis simus pecosensis) were successfully characterized using otolith microchemistry and swimming performance trials. Strontium isotope ratios (87Sr:86Sr) of otoliths within the resident plains killifish (Fundulus zebrinus) were successfully used as a surrogate for strontium isotope ratios in water and revealed three isotopically distinct reaches throughout 297 km of the Pecos River, New Mexico, USA. Two different life history movement patterns were revealed in Pecos bluntnose shiner. Eggs and fry were either retained in upper river reaches or passively dispersed downriver followed by upriver movement during the first year of life, with some fish achieving a minimum movement of 56 km. Swimming ability of Pecos bluntnose shiner confirmed upper critical swimming speeds (Ucrit) as high as 43.8 cm·s−1 and 20.6 body lengths·s−1 in 30 days posthatch fish. Strong swimming ability early in life supports our observations of upriver movement using otolith microchemistry and confirms movement patterns that were previously unknown for the species. Understanding patterns of dispersal of this and other small-bodied fishes using otolith microchemistry may help redirect conservation and management efforts for Great Plains fishes.

Investigating change of properties in gallium ion irradiation patterned single-layer graphene

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, Quan, E-mail: wangq@mail.ujs.edu.cn [School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013 (China); Key Laboratory of Nanodevices and Applications, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China); Dong, Jinyao; Bai, Bing [School of Mechanical Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013 (China); Xie, Guoxin [State Key Laboratory of Tribology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084 (China)

2016-10-14

Besides its excellent physical properties, graphene promises to play a significant role in electronics with superior properties, which requires patterning of graphene for device integration. Here, we presented the changes in properties of single-layer graphene before and after patterning using gallium ion beam. Combined with Raman spectra of graphene, the scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) image confirmed that a metal–insulator transition occurred after large doses of gallium ion irradiation. The changes in work function and Raman spectra of graphene indicated that the defect density increased as increasing the dose and a structural transition occurred during gallium ion irradiation. The patterning width of graphene presented an increasing trend due to the scattering influence of the impurities and the substrate. - Highlights: • The scanning capacitance microscopy image confirmed a metal–insulator transition occurred after large doses of gallium ion irradiation. • The changes indicated the defect density increased as increasing the dose and a structural transition occurred during gallium ion irradiation. • The patterning width of graphene presented a increasing trend due to the scattering influence of the impurities and the substrate.

High-Elevation Sierra Nevada Conifers Reveal Increasing Reliance on Snow Water with Changing Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Lepley, K. S.; Meko, D. M.; Touchan, R.; Shamir, E.; Graham, R.

2017-12-01

Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada Mountains accounts for around one third of California's water supply. Melting snow can provide water into dry summer months characteristic of the region's Mediterranean climate. As climate changes, understanding patterns of snowpack, snowmelt, and biological response are critical in this region of agricultural, recreational, and ecological value. Tree rings can act as proxy records to inform scientists and resource managers of past climate variability where instrumental data is unavailable. Here we investigate relationships between tree rings of high-elevation, snow-adapted conifer trees (Tsuga mertensiana, Abies magnifica) and April 1st snow-water equivalent (SWE) in the northern Sierra Nevada Mountains. The 1st principal component of 29 highly correlated regional SWE time series was modeled using multiple linear regression of four tree-ring chronologies including two lagged chronologies. Split-period verification analysis of this model revealed poor predictive skill in the early half (1929 - 1966) of the calibration period (1929 - 2003). Further analysis revealed a significant (p time. Snow water is becoming a more limiting resource to tree growth as average temperatures rise and the hydrologic regime shifts. These results highlight the need for resource managers and policy makers to consider that biological response to climate is not static.

Global Warming and Changing Temperature Patterns over Mauritius ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This paper discusses the changing temperature pattern over Mauritius. We observe an increase of the annual mean temperature at Pamplemousses since 1876 with an average rate of 0.009oC per year with a significant correlation coefficient of 0.67. Compared to the mean temperature for the period of 1951 to 1960, we ...

[Changes in the food and beverage consumption pattern in Argentina, 1996-2013].

Science.gov (United States)

Zapata, María Elisa; Rovirosa, Alicia; Carmuega, Esteban

2016-01-01

The dietary pattern of the population has shifted in recent years as a result of cultural changes and modifications in food accessibility. In order to describe the changes in food and beverage consumption patterns in the last two decades in Argentina, the National Survey of Household Expenditure [Encuesta Nacional de Gastos de los Hogares] was analyzed for the periods 1996-1997, 2004-2005 and 2012-2013. The average apparent consumption of food and beverages in grams or milliliters of net weight per adult equivalent was estimated for each period. The variation in the amount of food and beverages available for consumption between 1996 and 2013 shows that the structure of the dietary pattern has changed, appearing to indicate shifts in the ways of buying, preparing and consuming foods related to greater convenience and accessibility and less time spent on food preparation.

[Changes in the patterns of food consumption in Latin America].

Science.gov (United States)

Tagle, M A

1988-09-01

Food consumption patterns have suffered important although not generalized changes in recent years. A series of factors favor these changes, such as variations in family income, rural-urban migration, increase of tertiary activities related to foods, and exposure to commercial propaganda. All of these factors, when compared among them, do not have the same impact or validity. Thus, while the first two induce changes in the food pattern, the last two guide the consumer to certain food products. Modernization of the food pattern in Latin America and the Caribbean has been inspired by the USA food pattern of the previous decade, which from the nutritional and economic points of view, does not prove to be desirable. The average USA diet is rich in both saturated and mono- and polyunsaturated fats, as well as in refined sugar and all types of additives. It is poor in carbohydrates, particular in those of the complex type; most of its protein is of animal origin. It may also be rich in salt and poor in fiber, as it is made up by well-diversified industrialized foods in their presentation, manufactured and marketed by a highly industrialized production-distribution capitalized structure. The adopted model is not in correspondence with out countries' natural resources; it produces a displacement of the consumption patterns based on autochthonous and/or traditional components, and induces an increase in food imports. Since Latin American countries are of poor economic resources, and the model renders expensive products, these are absorbed by the socioeconomic group able to pay for them and/or--intermittently--as a high-cost product by calorie delivered, by the poor groups who are most in need, a situation which would imply serious damage on the quality and quantity of their diet. Changes in food habits and in food consumption patterns are related to a certain socio-demographic process which cannot be stopped. Consequently, this process should be carefully analyzed and

Seismicity Pattern Changes before the M = 4.8 Aeolian Archipelago (Italy Earthquake of August 16, 2010

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvatore Gambino

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We investigated the seismicity patterns associated with an M=4.8 earthquake recorded in the Aeolian Archipelago on 16, August, 2010, by means of the region-time-length (RTL algorithm. This earthquake triggered landslides at Lipari; a rock fall on the flanks of the Vulcano, Lipari, and Salina islands, and some damages to the village of Lipari. The RTL algorithm is widely used for investigating precursory seismicity changes before large and moderate earthquakes. We examined both the spatial and temporal characteristics of seismicity changes in the Aeolian Archipelago region before the M=4.8 earthquake. The results obtained reveal 6-7 months of seismic quiescence which started about 15 months before the earthquake. The spatial distribution shows an extensive area characterized by seismic quiescence that suggests a relationship between quiescence and the Aeolian Archipelago regional tectonics.

The New England travel market: changes in generational travel patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Rodney B. Warnick

1995-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine and explore the New England domestic travel market trends, from 1979 through 1991 within the context of generations. The existing travel markets, who travel to New England, are changing by age cohorts and specifically within different generations. The New England changes in generational travel patterns do not reflect national...

Changes in the food and beverage consumption pattern in Argentina, 1996-2013

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María Elisa Zapata

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The dietary pattern of the population has shifted in recent years as a result of cultural changes and modifications in food accessibility. In order to describe the changes in food and beverage consumption patterns in the last two decades in Argentina, the National Survey of Household Expenditure [Encuesta Nacional de Gastos de los Hogares] was analyzed for the periods 1996-1997, 2004-2005 and 2012-2013. The average apparent consumption of food and beverages in grams or milliliters of net weight per adult equivalent was estimated for each period. The variation in the amount of food and beverages available for consumption between 1996 and 2013 shows that the structure of the dietary pattern has changed, appearing to indicate shifts in the ways of buying, preparing and consuming foods related to greater convenience and accessibility and less time spent on food preparation.

Acidosis-Induced Changes in Proteome Patterns of the Prostate Cancer-Derived Tumor Cell Line AT-1.

Science.gov (United States)

Ihling, Angelika; Ihling, Christian H; Sinz, Andrea; Gekle, Michael

2015-09-04

Under various pathological conditions, such as inflammation, ischemia and in solid tumors, physiological parameters (local oxygen tension or extracellular pH) show distinct tissue abnormalities (hypoxia and acidosis). For tumors, the prevailing microenvironment exerts a strong influence on the phenotype with respect to proliferation, invasion, and metastasis formation and therefore influences prognosis. In this study, we investigate the impact of extracellular metabolic acidosis (pH 7.4 versus 6.6) on the proteome patterns of a prostate cancer-derived tumor cell type (AT-1) using isobaric labeling and LC-MS/MS analysis. In total, 2710 proteins were identified and quantified across four biological replicates, of which seven were significantly affected with changes >50% and used for validation. Glucose transporter 1 and farnesyl pyrophosphatase were found to be down-regulated after 48 h of acidic treatment, and metallothionein 2A was reduced after 24 h and returned to control values after 48 h. After 24 and 48 h at pH 6.6, glutathione S transferase A3 and NAD(P)H dehydrogenase 1, cellular retinoic acid-binding protein 2, and Na-bicarbonate transporter 3 levels were found to be increased. The changes in protein levels were confirmed by transcriptome and functional analyses. In addition to the experimental in-depth investigation of proteins with changes >50%, functional profiling (statistical enrichment analysis) including proteins with changes >20% revealed that acidosis upregulates GSH metabolic processes, citric acid cycle, and respiratory electron transport. Metabolism of lipids and cholesterol biosynthesis were downregulated. Our data comprise the first comprehensive report on acidosis-induced changes in proteome patterns of a tumor cell line.

Mapping the order and pattern of brain structural MRI changes using change-point analysis in premanifest Huntington's disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Dan; Faria, Andreia V; Younes, Laurent; Mori, Susumu; Brown, Timothy; Johnson, Hans; Paulsen, Jane S; Ross, Christopher A; Miller, Michael I

2017-10-01

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder that progressively affects motor, cognitive, and emotional functions. Structural MRI studies have demonstrated brain atrophy beginning many years prior to clinical onset ("premanifest" period), but the order and pattern of brain structural changes have not been fully characterized. In this study, we investigated brain regional volumes and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measurements in premanifest HD, and we aim to determine (1) the extent of MRI changes in a large number of structures across the brain by atlas-based analysis, and (2) the initiation points of structural MRI changes in these brain regions. We adopted a novel multivariate linear regression model to detect the inflection points at which the MRI changes begin (namely, "change-points"), with respect to the CAG-age product (CAP, an indicator of extent of exposure to the effects of CAG repeat expansion). We used approximately 300 T1-weighted and DTI data from premanifest HD and control subjects in the PREDICT-HD study, with atlas-based whole brain segmentation and change-point analysis. The results indicated a distinct topology of structural MRI changes: the change-points of the volumetric measurements suggested a central-to-peripheral pattern of atrophy from the striatum to the deep white matter; and the change points of DTI measurements indicated the earliest changes in mean diffusivity in the deep white matter and posterior white matter. While interpretation needs to be cautious given the cross-sectional nature of the data, these findings suggest a spatial and temporal pattern of spread of structural changes within the HD brain. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5035-5050, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Key principles for adapting South African settlement patterns to climate change

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Van Wyk, Llewellyn

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to identify key principles for adapting SA settlement patterns to climate change. Section 1 reviews the range of climate-related impacts likely to affect SA settlements using climate change models and scenarios as a context...

Changing patterns of human anthrax in Azerbaijan during the post-Soviet and preemptive livestock vaccination eras.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ian Kracalik

2014-07-01

Full Text Available We assessed spatial and temporal changes in the occurrence of human anthrax in Azerbaijan during 1984 through 2010. Data on livestock outbreaks, vaccination efforts, and human anthrax incidence during Soviet governance, post-Soviet governance, preemptive livestock vaccination were analyzed. To evaluate changes in the spatio-temporal distribution of anthrax, we used a combination of spatial analysis, cluster detection, and weighted least squares segmented regression. Results indicated an annual percent change in incidence of (+11.95% from 1984 to 1995 followed by declining rate of -35.24% after the initiation of livestock vaccination in 1996. Our findings also revealed geographic variation in the spatial distribution of reporting; cases were primarily concentrated in the west early in the study period and shifted eastward as time progressed. Over twenty years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the distribution of human anthrax in Azerbaijan has undergone marked changes. Despite decreases in the incidence of human anthrax, continued control measures in livestock are needed to mitigate its occurrence. The shifting patterns of human anthrax highlight the need for an integrated "One Health" approach that takes into account the changing geographic distribution of the disease.

Changing patterns of brain activation during maze learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Horn, J D; Gold, J M; Esposito, G; Ostrem, J L; Mattay, V; Weinberger, D R; Berman, K F

1998-05-18

Recent research has found that patterns of brain activation involving the frontal cortex during novel task performance change dramatically following practice and repeat performance. Evidence for differential left vs. right frontal lobe activation, respectively, during episodic memory encoding and retrieval has also been reported. To examine these potentially related issues regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured in 15 normal volunteers using positron emission tomography (PET) during the naive and practiced performance of a maze task paradigm. SPM analysis indicated a largely right-sided, frontal lobe activation during naive performance. Following training and practice, performance of the same maze task elicited a more posterior pattern of rCBF activation involving posterior cingulate and precuneus. The change in the pattern of rCBF activation between novel and practiced task conditions agrees with results found in previous studies using repeat task methodology, and indicates that the neural circuitry required for encoding novel task information differs from that required when the same task has become familiar and information is being recalled. The right-sided preponderance of activation during naive performance may relate to task novelty and the spatially-based nature of the stimuli, whereas posterior areas activated during repeat performance are those previously found to be associated with visuospatial memory recall. Activation of these areas, however, does not agree with previously reported findings of left-sided activation during verbal episodic memory encoding and right-sided activation during retrieval, suggesting different neural substrates for verbal and visuospatial processing within memory. Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Cognition-emotion interactions: patterns of change and implications for math problem solving

Science.gov (United States)

Trezise, Kelly; Reeve, Robert A.

2014-01-01

Surprisingly little is known about whether relationships between cognitive and emotional states remain stable or change over time, or how different patterns of stability and/or change in the relationships affect problem solving abilities. Nevertheless, cross-sectional studies show that anxiety/worry may reduce working memory (WM) resources, and the ability to minimize the effects anxiety/worry is higher in individuals with greater WM capacity. To investigate the patterns of stability and/or change in cognition-emotion relations over time and their implications for problem solving, 126 14-year-olds’ algebraic WM and worry levels were assessed twice in a single day before completing an algebraic math problem solving test. We used latent transition analysis to identify stability/change in cognition-emotion relations, which yielded a six subgroup solution. Subgroups varied in WM capacity, worry, and stability/change relationships. Among the subgroups, we identified a high WM/low worry subgroup that remained stable over time and a high WM/high worry, and a moderate WM/low worry subgroup that changed to low WM subgroups over time. Patterns of stability/change in subgroup membership predicted algebraic test results. The stable high WM/low worry subgroup performed best and the low WM capacity-high worry “unstable across time” subgroup performed worst. The findings highlight the importance of assessing variations in cognition-emotion relationships over time (rather than assessing cognition or emotion states alone) to account for differences in problem solving abilities. PMID:25132830

Cognition-emotion interactions: Patterns of change and implications for math problem solving

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelly eTrezise

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Surprisingly little is known about whether relationships between cognitive and emotional states remain stable or change over time, or how different patterns of stability and/or change in the relationships affect problem solving abilities. Nevertheless, cross-sectional studies show that anxiety/worry may reduce working memory resources, and the ability to minimize the effects anxiety/worry is higher in individuals with greater WM capacity. To investigate the patterns of stability and/or change in cognition-emotion relations over time and their implications for problem solving, 126 14-year-olds’ algebraic WM and worry levels were assessed twice in a single day before completing an algebraic math problem solving test. We used latent transition analysis to identify stability/change in cognition-emotion relations, which yielded a six subgroup solution. Subgroups varied in WM capacity, worry, and stability/change relationships. Among the subgroups, we identified a high WM/low worry subgroup that remained stable over time and a high WM/high worry, and a moderate WM/low worry subgroup that changed to low WM subgroups over time. Patterns of stability/change in subgroup membership predicted algebraic test results. The stable high WM/low worry subgroup performed best and the low WM capacity-high worry unstable across time subgroup performed worst. The findings highlight the importance of assessing variations in cognition-emotion relationships over time (rather than assessing cognition or emotion states alone to account for differences in problem solving abilities.

Changes in seafood consumer preference patterns and associated changes in risk exposure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jensen, Helen H. [Iowa State University, Department of Economics, 578 Heady Hall, Ames, IA 50011 (United States)]. E-mail hhjensen@iastate.edu

2006-07-01

Consumers world-wide are driving changes in the agriculture and food sector. Rising consumer income, changing demographics and lifestyles, and shifting preferences due to new information about the links between diet and health all contribute to new demands for foods. At the same time, technological changes in production, processing and distribution, growth in large-scale retailing, and changes in product availability, as well as expansion of trade world wide, have contributed to a rapidly changing market for food products. Changes in seafood consumption reflect these changes. The changes in consumer consumption patterns, new technologies and trade in product offer both expanded markets as well as new challenges to consumer exposure to food-borne risks. The strict quality control requirements of retail brokers, growth of private labels, and development of value-protecting marketing channels have become increasingly important in food markets. This paper addresses major trends that affect seafood consumption and the market for seafood products and the implications of these changes for consumer risk exposure to food safety hazards. The current economic environment highlights similarities and differences between the developed and developing countries, as well as diversity worldwide in consumption of seafood. Within this context, four major trends affect consumer consumption of foods, including seafood and fish products today: rising income; changing demographics; changing markets for food; and an increasingly global market for food products. Changes in consumer risk exposure to food safety problems are addressed in the context of these trends.

Changes in seafood consumer preference patterns and associated changes in risk exposure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jensen, Helen H. . E-mail hhjensen@iastate.edu

2006-01-01

Consumers world-wide are driving changes in the agriculture and food sector. Rising consumer income, changing demographics and lifestyles, and shifting preferences due to new information about the links between diet and health all contribute to new demands for foods. At the same time, technological changes in production, processing and distribution, growth in large-scale retailing, and changes in product availability, as well as expansion of trade world wide, have contributed to a rapidly changing market for food products. Changes in seafood consumption reflect these changes. The changes in consumer consumption patterns, new technologies and trade in product offer both expanded markets as well as new challenges to consumer exposure to food-borne risks. The strict quality control requirements of retail brokers, growth of private labels, and development of value-protecting marketing channels have become increasingly important in food markets. This paper addresses major trends that affect seafood consumption and the market for seafood products and the implications of these changes for consumer risk exposure to food safety hazards. The current economic environment highlights similarities and differences between the developed and developing countries, as well as diversity worldwide in consumption of seafood. Within this context, four major trends affect consumer consumption of foods, including seafood and fish products today: rising income; changing demographics; changing markets for food; and an increasingly global market for food products. Changes in consumer risk exposure to food safety problems are addressed in the context of these trends

Changes in seafood consumer preference patterns and associated changes in risk exposure.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Helen H

2006-01-01

Consumers world-wide are driving changes in the agriculture and food sector. Rising consumer income, changing demographics and lifestyles, and shifting preferences due to new information about the links between diet and health all contribute to new demands for foods. At the same time, technological changes in production, processing and distribution, growth in large-scale retailing, and changes in product availability, as well as expansion of trade world wide, have contributed to a rapidly changing market for food products. Changes in seafood consumption reflect these changes. The changes in consumer consumption patterns, new technologies and trade in product offer both expanded markets as well as new challenges to consumer exposure to food-borne risks. The strict quality control requirements of retail brokers, growth of private labels, and development of value-protecting marketing channels have become increasingly important in food markets. This paper addresses major trends that affect seafood consumption and the market for seafood products and the implications of these changes for consumer risk exposure to food safety hazards. The current economic environment highlights similarities and differences between the developed and developing countries, as well as diversity worldwide in consumption of seafood. Within this context, four major trends affect consumer consumption of foods, including seafood and fish products today: rising income; changing demographics; changing markets for food; and an increasingly global market for food products. Changes in consumer risk exposure to food safety problems are addressed in the context of these trends.

Changing drainage patterns within South Cascade Glacier, Washington, USA, 1964-1992

Science.gov (United States)

Fountain, A.G.; Vaughn, B.H.

1995-01-01

The theoretical patterns of water drainage are presented for South Cascade Glacier for four different years between 1964 and 1992, during which the glacier was thinning and receding. The theoretical pattern compares well, in a broad sense, with the flow pattern determined from tracer injections in 1986 and 1987. Differences between the patterns may result from the routing of surface meltwater in crevasses prior to entering the body of the glacier. The changing drainage pattern was caused by glacier thinning. The migration of a drainage divide eventually rerouted most of the surface meltwater from the main stream that drained the glacier in 1987 to another, formerly smaller, stream by 1992. On the basis of projected glacier thinning between 1992 and 1999, we predict that the drainage divide will continue to migrate across the glacier.

Emerging pattern of global change in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Laštovička

2008-05-01

Full Text Available In the upper atmosphere, greenhouse gases produce a cooling effect, instead of a warming effect. Increases in greenhouse gas concentrations are expected to induce substantial changes in the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere, including a thermal contraction of these layers. In this article we construct for the first time a pattern of the observed long-term global change in the upper atmosphere, based on trend studies of various parameters. The picture we obtain is qualitative, and contains several gaps and a few discrepancies, but the overall pattern of observed long-term changes throughout the upper atmosphere is consistent with model predictions of the effect of greenhouse gas increases. Together with the large body of lower atmospheric trend research, our synthesis indicates that anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are affecting the atmosphere at nearly all altitudes between ground and space.

Patterns and potential drivers of dramatic changes in Tibetan lakes, 1972-2010.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Yingkui; Liao, Jingjuan; Guo, Huadong; Liu, Zewen; Shen, Guozhuang

2014-01-01

Most glaciers in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau are retreating, and glacier melt has been emphasized as the dominant driver for recent lake expansions on the Tibetan Plateau. By investigating detailed changes in lake extents and levels across the Tibetan Plateau from Landsat/ICESat data, we found a pattern of dramatic lake changes from 1970 to 2010 (especially after 2000) with a southwest-northeast transition from shrinking, to stable, to rapidly expanding. This pattern is in distinct contrast to the spatial characteristics of glacier retreat, suggesting limited influence of glacier melt on lake dynamics. The plateau-wide pattern of lake change is related to precipitation variation and consistent with the pattern of permafrost degradation induced by rising temperature. More than 79% of lakes we observed on the central-northern plateau (with continuous permafrost) are rapidly expanding, even without glacial contributions, while lakes fed by retreating glaciers in southern regions (with isolated permafrost) are relatively stable or shrinking. Our study shows the limited role of glacier melt and highlights the potentially important contribution of permafrost degradation in predicting future water availability in this region, where understanding these processes is of critical importance to drinking water, agriculture, and hydropower supply of densely populated areas in South and East Asia.

The environmental impact of changing consumption patterns: a survey

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Røpke, Inge

2001-01-01

How does environmental impact change when national income increases? So far, this question has been mainly discussed from the point of view of production, but in recent years several studies have dealt with the question of decoupling from the point of view of consumption. The optimistic subscribers...... assessment of the environmental impact is most appropriately based on an input approach. Then data on input intensities for different categories of consumption goods are combined with data on changes in consumption patterns, and it is concluded that the historical changes in the composition of consumption...... seem to have done little to counterbalance the environmental effects of growth....

Analysis of climate change impact on rainfall pattern of Sambas district, West Kalimantan

Science.gov (United States)

Berliana Sipayung, Sinta; Nurlatifah, Amalia; Siswanto, Bambang; Slamet S, Lilik

2018-05-01

Climate change is one of the most important issues being discussed globally. It caused by global warming and indirectly affecting the world climate cycle. This research discussed the effect of climate change on rainfall pattern of Sambas District and predicted the future rainfall pattern due to climate change. CRU and TRMM were used and has been validated using in situ data. This research was used Climate Modelling and Prediction using CCAM (Conformal Cubic Atmospheric Model) which also validated by in situ data (correlation= 0.81). The results show that temperature trends in Sambas regency increased to 0.082°C/yr from 1991-2014 according to CRU data. High temperature trigger changes in rainfall patterns. Rainfall pattern in Sambas District has an equatorial type where the peak occurs when the sun is right on the equator. Rainfall in Sambas reaches the maximum in March and September when the equinox occurs. The CCAM model is used to project rainfall in Sambas District in the future. The model results show that rainfall in Sambas District is projected to increase to 0.018 mm/month until 2055 so the flow rate increase 0.006 m3/month and the water balance increase 0.009 mm/month.

Patterned biofilm formation reveals a mechanism for structural heterogeneity in bacterial biofilms.

Science.gov (United States)

Gu, Huan; Hou, Shuyu; Yongyat, Chanokpon; De Tore, Suzanne; Ren, Dacheng

2013-09-03

Bacterial biofilms are ubiquitous and are the major cause of chronic infections in humans and persistent biofouling in industry. Despite the significance of bacterial biofilms, the mechanism of biofilm formation and associated drug tolerance is still not fully understood. A major challenge in biofilm research is the intrinsic heterogeneity in the biofilm structure, which leads to temporal and spatial variation in cell density and gene expression. To understand and control such structural heterogeneity, surfaces with patterned functional alkanthiols were used in this study to obtain Escherichia coli cell clusters with systematically varied cluster size and distance between clusters. The results from quantitative imaging analysis revealed an interesting phenomenon in which multicellular connections can be formed between cell clusters depending on the size of interacting clusters and the distance between them. In addition, significant differences in patterned biofilm formation were observed between wild-type E. coli RP437 and some of its isogenic mutants, indicating that certain cellular and genetic factors are involved in interactions among cell clusters. In particular, autoinducer-2-mediated quorum sensing was found to be important. Collectively, these results provide missing information that links cell-to-cell signaling and interaction among cell clusters to the structural organization of bacterial biofilms.

Network based approaches reveal clustering in protein point patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Parker, Joshua; Barr, Valarie; Aldridge, Joshua; Samelson, Lawrence E.; Losert, Wolfgang

2014-03-01

Recent advances in super-resolution imaging have allowed for the sub-diffraction measurement of the spatial location of proteins on the surfaces of T-cells. The challenge is to connect these complex point patterns to the internal processes and interactions, both protein-protein and protein-membrane. We begin analyzing these patterns by forming a geometric network amongst the proteins and looking at network measures, such the degree distribution. This allows us to compare experimentally observed patterns to models. Specifically, we find that the experimental patterns differ from heterogeneous Poisson processes, highlighting an internal clustering structure. Further work will be to compare our results to simulated protein-protein interactions to determine clustering mechanisms.

Climate induced changes in the circulation and dispersal patterns of ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Climate induced changes in the circulation and dispersal patterns of the fluvial sources during late Quaternary in the middle Bengal Fan ... in 14C dated box cores from the eastern, the central and the western regions were studied to determine ...

Some implications of changing patterns of mineral consumption

Science.gov (United States)

Menzie, W. David; DeYoung,, John H.; Steblez, Walter G.

2003-01-01

DeYoung and Menzie (1999) examined the relations among population, Gross Domestic Product, and mineral consumption (aluminum, cement, copper, and salt) for Japan, Korea, and the United States between 1965 and 1995. They noted the extremely rapid growth of consumption in Korea between 1975 and 1995. Concomitantly, Korea's population growth rate declined. This paper extends that earlier work by examining patterns of consumption of these same commodities in the twenty most populous countries for the period 1970 through 1995. Developed countries, such as France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, show patterns of consumption that are stable (cement, copper, and salt) or grow slowly (aluminum). Some developing countries, including China, Thailand, and Turkey, show more rapid growth of consumption, especially of cement, copper, and aluminum. These changing patterns of mineral consumption in developing countries have important implications -- if they continue, there could be major increases in world mineral consumption and major increases in environmental residuals from mineral production and use. If China reaches the level of consumption of copper of developed countries, world consumption could reach levels more than twice that of 1995 (10.5 million tons).

Voronoi-based spatial analysis reveals selective interneuron changes in the cortex of FALS mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Minciacchi, Diego; Kassa, Roman M; Del Tongo, Claudia; Mariotti, Raffaella; Bentivoglio, Marina

2009-01-01

The neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis affects lower motoneurons and corticospinal cells. Mice expressing human mutant superoxide dismutase (SOD)1 provide widely investigated models of the familial form of disease, but information on cortical changes in these mice is still limited. We here analyzed the spatial organization of interneurons characterized by parvalbumin immunoreactivity in the motor, somatosensory, and visual cortical areas of SOD1(G93A) mice. Cell number and sociological spatial behavior were assessed by digital charts of cell location in cortical samples, cell counts, and generation of two-dimensional Voronoi diagrams. In end-stage SOD1-mutant mice, an increase of parvalbumin-containing cortical interneurons was found in the motor and somatosensory areas (about 35% and 20%, respectively) with respect to wild-type littermates. Changes in cell spatial distribution, as documented by Voronoi-derived coefficients of variation, indicated increased tendency of parvalbumin cells to aggregate into clusters in the same areas of the SOD1-mutant cortex. Counts and coefficients of variation of parvalbumin cells in the visual cortex gave instead similar results in SOD1-mutant and wild-type mice. Analyses of motor and somatosensory areas in presymptomatic SOD1-mutant mice provided findings very similar to those obtained at end-stage, indicating early changes of interneurons in these cortical areas during the pathology. Altogether the data reveal in the SOD1-mutant mouse cortex an altered architectonic pattern of interneurons, which selectively affects areas involved in motor control. The findings, which can be interpreted as pathogenic factors or early disease-related adaptations, point to changes in the cortical regulation and modulation of the motor circuit during motoneuron disease.

Changing Patterns of Cultural Imperialism in a Developing Country.

Science.gov (United States)

Everitt, John

Using Belize, Central America, as an example, this paper illustrates some of the changing patterns of cultural imperialism that can presently be viewed in the emerging nations of the world. Cultural imperialism is defined as the process whereby the culture of a weaker nation is dominated by that of a stronger nation. In September 1981, Belize,…

The changing pattern of pathology due to Schistosoma mansoni infection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zilton A. Andrade

1985-09-01

Full Text Available A survey of the autopsy data on hepatosplenic schistosomiasis during periods, before and after the advent of new chemotherapeutic drugs, revealed that: a the pathological presentation was the same for the two periods; b the number of cases in the last five years is progressively decreasing; c hepatosplenic disease due to schistosomiasis is becoming rare in young people. These data represent a change in the pattern of pathology in schistosomiasis, probably related to new chemotherapy.Uma revisão dos dados de necrópsias realizadas em portadores da forma hépato-esplênica da esquistossomose, feita em dois períodos, antes e após a introdução das novas e efetivas drogas contra o S. mansoni, revelou que: a as lesões encontradas foram qualitativamente as mesmas nos dois períodos; b a percentagem dos casos hépato-esplênicos mostra decréscimo progressivo nos últimos cinco anos do estudo; c os casos de esquistossomose hépato-esplênica estão se tornando raros em jovens. Tais elementos constituem uma mudança no padrão de apresentação da doença, possivelmente relacionada com a introdução da nova quimioterapia curativa.

Patterns of structural - qualitative changes in the development of complex systems

OpenAIRE

S Holtier

1992-01-01

This paper is an attempt to outline, in an emancipatory fashion, a framework of thinking to deal with the general patterns of development. As decision problems in society are increasingly of a developmental nature compared with simple performance in equilibrium systems, the author pleads in favour of an operational approach centred on 'the algebra' of structural change. It is argued that for describing and understanding development patterns better we need a proper 'structural' and 'ontologica...

Migration history of air-breathing fishes reveals Neogene atmospheric circulation patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Böhme, M.

2004-05-01

The migration history of an air-breathing fish group (Channidae; snakehead fishes) is used for reconstructing Neogene Eurasian precipitation and atmospheric circulation patterns. The study shows that snakeheads are sensitive indicators of summer precipitation maxima in subtropical and temperate regions, and are present regularly if the wettest month exceeds 150 mm precipitation and 20 °C mean temperature. The analysis of 515 fossil freshwater fish deposits of the past 50 m.y. from Africa and Eurasia shows two continental-scale migration events from the snakeheads' center of origin in the south Himalayan region, events that can be related to changes in the Northern Hemisphere circulation pattern. The first migration, ca. 17.5 Ma, into western and central Eurasia may have been caused by a northward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone that brought western Eurasia under the influence of trade winds that produced a zonal and meridional precipitation gradient in Europe. During the second migration, between 8 and 4 Ma, into Africa and East Asia, snakeheads reached their present-day distribution. This migration could have been related to the intensification of the Asian monsoon that brought summer precipitation to their migratory pathways in East Africa Arabia and East Asia.

A Network Based Methodology to Reveal Patterns in Knowledge Transfer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Orlando López-Cruz

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper motivates, presents and demonstrates in use a methodology based in complex network analysis to support research aimed at identification of sources in the process of knowledge transfer at the interorganizational level. The importance of this methodology is that it states a unified model to reveal knowledge sharing patterns and to compare results from multiple researches on data from different periods of time and different sectors of the economy. This methodology does not address the underlying statistical processes. To do this, national statistics departments (NSD provide documents and tools at their websites. But this proposal provides a guide to model information inferences gathered from data processing revealing links between sources and recipients of knowledge being transferred and that the recipient detects as main source to new knowledge creation. Some national statistics departments set as objective for these surveys the characterization of innovation dynamics in firms and to analyze the use of public support instruments. From this characterization scholars conduct different researches. Measures of dimensions of the network composed by manufacturing firms and other organizations conform the base to inquiry the structure that emerges from taking ideas from other organizations to incept innovations. These two sets of data are actors of a two- mode-network. The link between two actors (network nodes, one acting as the source of the idea. The second one acting as the destination comes from organizations or events organized by organizations that “provide” ideas to other group of firms. The resulting demonstrated design satisfies the objective of being a methodological model to identify sources in knowledge transfer of knowledge effectively used in innovation.

Recognizing lexical and semantic change patterns in evolving life science ontologies to inform mapping adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dos Reis, Julio Cesar; Dinh, Duy; Da Silveira, Marcos; Pruski, Cédric; Reynaud-Delaître, Chantal

2015-03-01

Mappings established between life science ontologies require significant efforts to maintain them up to date due to the size and frequent evolution of these ontologies. In consequence, automatic methods for applying modifications on mappings are highly demanded. The accuracy of such methods relies on the available description about the evolution of ontologies, especially regarding concepts involved in mappings. However, from one ontology version to another, a further understanding of ontology changes relevant for supporting mapping adaptation is typically lacking. This research work defines a set of change patterns at the level of concept attributes, and proposes original methods to automatically recognize instances of these patterns based on the similarity between attributes denoting the evolving concepts. This investigation evaluates the benefits of the proposed methods and the influence of the recognized change patterns to select the strategies for mapping adaptation. The summary of the findings is as follows: (1) the Precision (>60%) and Recall (>35%) achieved by comparing manually identified change patterns with the automatic ones; (2) a set of potential impact of recognized change patterns on the way mappings is adapted. We found that the detected correlations cover ∼66% of the mapping adaptation actions with a positive impact; and (3) the influence of the similarity coefficient calculated between concept attributes on the performance of the recognition algorithms. The experimental evaluations conducted with real life science ontologies showed the effectiveness of our approach to accurately characterize ontology evolution at the level of concept attributes. This investigation confirmed the relevance of the proposed change patterns to support decisions on mapping adaptation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Multi-spatial analysis of aeolian dune-field patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Ewing, Ryan C.; McDonald, George D.; Hayes, Alex G.

2015-07-01

Aeolian dune-fields are composed of different spatial scales of bedform patterns that respond to changes in environmental boundary conditions over a wide range of time scales. This study examines how variations in spatial scales of dune and ripple patterns found within dune fields are used in environmental reconstructions on Earth, Mars and Titan. Within a single bedform type, different spatial scales of bedforms emerge as a pattern evolves from an initial state into a well-organized pattern, such as with the transition from protodunes to dunes. Additionally, different types of bedforms, such as ripples, coarse-grained ripples and dunes, coexist at different spatial scales within a dune-field. Analysis of dune-field patterns at the intersection of different scales and types of bedforms at different stages of development provides a more comprehensive record of sediment supply and wind regime than analysis of a single scale and type of bedform. Interpretations of environmental conditions from any scale of bedform, however, are limited to environmental signals associated with the response time of that bedform. Large-scale dune-field patterns integrate signals over long-term climate cycles and reveal little about short-term variations in wind or sediment supply. Wind ripples respond instantly to changing conditions, but reveal little about longer-term variations in wind or sediment supply. Recognizing the response time scales across different spatial scales of bedforms maximizes environmental interpretations from dune-field patterns.

Climate change induced rainfall patterns affect wheat productivity and agroecosystem functioning dependent on soil types

Science.gov (United States)

Tabi Tataw, James; Baier, Fabian; Krottenthaler, Florian; Pachler, Bernadette; Schwaiger, Elisabeth; Whylidal, Stefan; Formayer, Herbert; Hösch, Johannes; Baumgarten, Andreas; Zaller, Johann G.

2014-05-01

Wheat is a crop of global importance supplying more than half of the world's population with carbohydrates. We examined, whether climate change induced rainfall patterns towards less frequent but heavier events alter wheat agroecosystem productivity and functioning under three different soil types. Therefore, in a full-factorial experiment Triticum aestivum L. was cultivated in 3 m2 lysimeter plots containing the soil types sandy calcaric phaeozem, gleyic phaeozem or calcic chernozem. Prognosticated rainfall patterns based on regionalised climate change model calculations were compared with current long-term rainfall patterns; each treatment combination was replicated three times. Future rainfall patterns significantly reduced wheat growth and yield, reduced the leaf area index, accelerated crop development, reduced arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonisation of roots, increased weed density and the stable carbon isotope signature (δ13C) of both old and young wheat leaves. Different soil types affected wheat growth and yield, ecosystem root production as well as weed abundance and biomass. The interaction between climate and soil type was significant only for the harvest index. Our results suggest that even slight changes in rainfall patterns can significantly affect the functioning of wheat agroecosystems. These rainfall effects seemed to be little influenced by soil types suggesting more general impacts of climate change across different soil types. Wheat production under future conditions will likely become more challenging as further concurrent climate change factors become prevalent.

Nonexplicit change detection in complex dynamic settings: what eye movements reveal.

Science.gov (United States)

Vachon, François; Vallières, Benoît R; Jones, Dylan M; Tremblay, Sébastien

2012-12-01

We employed a computer-controlled command-and-control (C2) simulation and recorded eye movements to examine the extent and nature of the inability to detect critical changes in dynamic displays when change detection is implicit (i.e., requires no explicit report) to the operator's task. Change blindness-the failure to notice significant changes to a visual scene-may have dire consequences on performance in C2 and surveillance operations. Participants performed a radar-based risk-assessment task involving multiple subtasks. Although participants were not required to explicitly report critical changes to the operational display, change detection was critical in informing decision making. Participants' eye movements were used as an index of visual attention across the display. Nonfixated (i.e., unattended) changes were more likely to be missed than were fixated (i.e., attended) changes, supporting the idea that focused attention is necessary for conscious change detection. The finding of significant pupil dilation for changes undetected but fixated suggests that attended changes can nonetheless be missed because of a failure of attentional processes. Change blindness in complex dynamic displays takes the form of failures in establishing task-appropriate patterns of attentional allocation. These findings have implications in the design of change-detection support tools for dynamic displays and work procedure in C2 and surveillance.

Food and drinking patterns as predictors of 6-year BMI-adjusted changes in waist circumference

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Halkjær, Jytte; Sørensen, Thorkild I A; Tjønneland, Anne

2004-01-01

Few studies have investigated the prospective associations between diet or drinking patterns and abdominal obesity; we therefore investigated whether food and beverage groups or patterns predicted 6-year changes in waist circumference (WC) and whether these associations were independent...... of concurrent changes in BMI as a measure of general obesity. The subjects were 2300 middle-aged men and women with repeated measurements of dietary intake, BMI and WC from 1982 to 1993. Intakes from ten food groups and from coffee, tea, wine, beer and spirits were assessed; gender-specific food factors were......, but the associations were weakened, especially for women, after adjustment for BMI changes. None of the food factors was associated with WC changes. Based on the present study, we conclude that very few food items and no food patterns seem to predict changes in WC, whereas high intakes of beer and spirits among women...

Time course of ozone-induced changes in breathing pattern in healthy exercising humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Schelegle, Edward S; Walby, William F; Adams, William C

2007-02-01

We examined the time course of O3-induced changes in breathing pattern in 97 healthy human subjects (70 men and 27 women). One- to five-minute averages of breathing frequency (f(B)) and minute ventilation (Ve) were used to generate plots of cumulative breaths and cumulative exposure volume vs. time and cumulative exposure volume vs. cumulative breaths. Analysis revealed a three-phase response; delay, no response detected; onset, f(B) began to increase; response, f(B) stabilized. Regression analysis was used to identify four parameters: time to onset, number of breaths at onset, cumulative inhaled dose of ozone at onset of O3-induced tachypnea, and the percent change in f(B). The effect of altering O3 concentration, Ve, atropine treatment, and indomethacin treatment were examined. We found that the lower the O3 concentration, the greater the number of breaths at onset of tachypnea at a fixed ventilation, whereas number of breaths at onset of tachypnea remains unchanged when Ve is altered and O3 concentration is fixed. The cumulative inhaled dose of O3 at onset of tachypnea remained constant and showed no relationship with the magnitude of percent change in f(B). Atropine did not affect any of the derived parameters, whereas indomethacin did not affect time to onset, number of breaths at onset, or cumulative inhaled dose of O3 at onset of tachypnea but did attenuate percent change in f(B). The results are discussed in the context of dose response and intrinsic mechanisms of action.

Co-occurrence patterns in aquatic bacterial communities across changing permafrost landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Comte, J.; Lovejoy, C.; Crevecoeur, S.; Vincent, W. F.

2016-01-01

Permafrost thaw ponds and lakes are widespread across the northern landscape and may play a central role in global biogeochemical cycles, yet knowledge about their microbial ecology is limited. We sampled a set of thaw ponds and lakes as well as shallow rock-basin lakes that are located in distinct valleys along a north-south permafrost degradation gradient. We applied high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene to determine co-occurrence patterns among bacterial taxa (operational taxonomic units, OTUs), and then analyzed these results relative to environmental variables to identify variables controlling bacterial community structure. Network analysis was applied to identify possible ecological linkages among the bacterial taxa and with abiotic and biotic variables. The results showed an overall high level of shared taxa among bacterial communities within each valley; however, the bacterial co-occurrence patterns were non-random, with evidence of habitat preferences. There were taxonomic differences in bacterial assemblages among the different valleys that were statistically related to dissolved organic carbon concentration, conductivity and phytoplankton biomass. Co-occurrence networks revealed complex interdependencies within the bacterioplankton communities and showed contrasting linkages to environmental conditions among the main bacterial phyla. The thaw pond networks were composed of a limited number of highly connected taxa. This "small world network" property would render the communities more robust to environmental change but vulnerable to the loss of microbial "keystone species". These highly connected nodes (OTUs) in the network were not merely the numerically dominant taxa, and their loss would alter the organization of microbial consortia and ultimately the food web structure and functioning of these aquatic ecosystems.

Large-area imaging reveals biologically driven non-random spatial patterns of corals at a remote reef

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Clinton B.; Eynaud, Yoan; Williams, Gareth J.; Pedersen, Nicole E.; Zgliczynski, Brian J.; Gleason, Arthur C. R.; Smith, Jennifer E.; Sandin, Stuart A.

2017-12-01

For sessile organisms such as reef-building corals, differences in the degree of dispersion of individuals across a landscape may result from important differences in life-history strategies or may reflect patterns of habitat availability. Descriptions of spatial patterns can thus be useful not only for the identification of key biological and physical mechanisms structuring an ecosystem, but also by providing the data necessary to generate and test ecological theory. Here, we used an in situ imaging technique to create large-area photomosaics of 16 plots at Palmyra Atoll, central Pacific, each covering 100 m2 of benthic habitat. We mapped the location of 44,008 coral colonies and identified each to the lowest taxonomic level possible. Using metrics of spatial dispersion, we tested for departures from spatial randomness. We also used targeted model fitting to explore candidate processes leading to differences in spatial patterns among taxa. Most taxa were clustered and the degree of clustering varied by taxon. A small number of taxa did not significantly depart from randomness and none revealed evidence of spatial uniformity. Importantly, taxa that readily fragment or tolerate stress through partial mortality were more clustered. With little exception, clustering patterns were consistent with models of fragmentation and dispersal limitation. In some taxa, dispersion was linearly related to abundance, suggesting density dependence of spatial patterning. The spatial patterns of stony corals are non-random and reflect fundamental life-history characteristics of the taxa, suggesting that the reef landscape may, in many cases, have important elements of spatial predictability.

Characterizing long-term patterns of weight change in China using latent class trajectory modeling.

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Lauren Paynter

Full Text Available Over the past three decades, obesity-related diseases have increased tremendously in China, and are now the leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Patterns of weight change can be used to predict risk of obesity-related diseases, increase understanding of etiology of disease risk, identify groups at particularly high risk, and shape prevention strategies.Latent class trajectory modeling was used to compute weight change trajectories for adults aged 18 to 66 using the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS data (n = 12,611. Weight change trajectories were computed separately for males and females by age group at baseline due to differential age-related patterns of weight gain in China with urbanization. Generalized linear mixed effects models examined the association between weight change trajectories and baseline characteristics including urbanicity, BMI category, age, and year of study entry.Trajectory classes were identified for each of six age-sex subgroups corresponding to various degrees of weight loss, maintenance and weight gain. Baseline BMI status was a significant predictor of trajectory membership for all age-sex subgroups. Baseline overweight/obesity increased odds of following 'initial loss with maintenance' trajectories. We found no significant association between baseline urbanization and trajectory membership after controlling for other covariates.Trajectory analysis identified patterns of weight change for age by gender groups. Lack of association between baseline urbanization status and trajectory membership suggests that living in a rural environment at baseline was not protective. Analyses identified age-specific nuances in weight change patterns, pointing to the importance of subgroup analyses in future research.

The Effect of Aging on Muscular Dynamics Underlying Movement Patterns Changes.

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Vernooij, Carlijn A; Rao, Guillaume; Berton, Eric; Retornaz, Frédérique; Temprado, Jean-Jacques

2016-01-01

Introduction: Aging leads to alterations not only within the complex subsystems of the neuro-musculo-skeletal system, but also in the coupling between them. Here, we studied how aging affects functional reorganizations that occur both within and between the behavioral and muscular levels, which must be coordinated to produce goal-directed movements. Using unimanual reciprocal Fitts' task, we examined the behavioral and muscular dynamics of older adults (74.4 ± 3.7 years) and compared them to those found for younger adults (23.2 ± 2.0 years). Methods: To achieve this objective, we manipulated the target size to trigger a phase transition in the behavioral regime and searched for concomitant signatures of a phase transition in the muscular coordination. Here, muscular coordination was derived by using the method of muscular synergy extraction. With this technique, we obtained functional muscular patterns through non-negative matrix factorization of the muscular signals followed by clustering the resulting synergies. Results: Older adults showed a phase transition in behavioral regime, although, in contrast to young participants, their kinematic profiles did not show a discontinuity. In parallel, muscular coordination displayed two typical signatures of a phase transition, that is, increased variability of coordination patterns and a reorganization of muscular synergies. Both signatures confirmed the existence of muscular reorganization in older adults, which is coupled with change in dynamical regime at behavioral level. However, relative to young adults, transition occurred at lower index of difficulty (ID) in older participants and the reorganization of muscular patterns lasted longer (over multiple IDs). Discussion: This implies that consistent changes occur in coordination processes across behavior and muscle. Furthermore, the repertoire of muscular patterns was reduced and somewhat modified for older adults, relative to young participants. This suggests that

Comparative Analysis of WUSCHEL-Related Homeobox Genes Revealed Their Parent-of-Origin and Cell Type-Specific Expression Pattern During Early Embryogenesis in Tobacco

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Xuemei Zhou

2018-03-01

Full Text Available WUSCHEL-related homeobox (WOX gene is a plant-specific clade of homeobox transcription factors. Increasing evidences reveal that WOXs play critical roles in early embryogenesis, which involves zygote development, initiation of zygote division, and apical or basal cell lineage establishment. However, how WOXs regulate these developmental events remains largely unknown, and even detailed expression pattern in gametes and early proembryos is not yet available. Here, 13 WOX family genes were identified in Nicotiana tabacum genome. Comparative analysis of 13 WOX family genes with their homologs in Arabidopsis thaliana reveals relatively conserved expression pattern of WUS and WOX5 in shoot/root apical meristem. Whereas variations were also found, e.g., lacking homolog of WOX8 (a marker for suspensor cell in tobacco genome and the expression of WOX2/WOX9 in both apical cell and basal cell. Transient transcriptional activity analysis revealed that WOXs in WUS clade have repressive activities for their target's transcription, whereas WOXs in ancient and intermediate clade have activation activities, giving a molecular basis for the phylogenetic classification of tobacco WOXs into three major clades. Expression pattern analysis revealed that some WOXs (e.g., WOX 13a expressed in both male and female gametes and some WOXs (e.g., WOX 11 and WOX 13b displayed the characteristics of parent-of-origin genes. Interestingly, some WOXs (e.g., WOX2 and WOX9, which are essential for early embryo patterning, were de novo transcribed in zygote, indicating relevant mechanism for embryo pattern formation is only established in zygote right after fertilization and not carried in by gametes. We also found that most WOXs displayed a stage-specific and cell type-specific expression pattern. Taken together, this work provides a detailed landscape of WOXs in tobacco during fertilization and early embryogenesis, which will facilitate the understanding of their specific roles

The changing pattern of the Western world enrichment industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Paleit, J.A.

1988-01-01

Past and future changes in the long-term enrichment market of the Western world are discussed, mainly from an economic point of view. Major trends and issues are summarized in the following subjects: an abstract economic model of market forms; factors specific to the enrichment market for defining its overall place within the economic model; a description of the changing pattern (market forms) of the Western world enrichment market and its major regional components in the period 1973-95 (one of the last years of the US world-wide monopoly, and one of the last years of contracts concluded in the early 1970s, respectively); a commentary, on the basis of four 'perfect market' criteria, on the main factors influencing these changes; an outlook on the market in the year 2000. (author)

Estimation of color modification in digital images by CFA pattern change.

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Choi, Chang-Hee; Lee, Hae-Yeoun; Lee, Heung-Kyu

2013-03-10

Extensive studies have been carried out for detecting image forgery such as copy-move, re-sampling, blurring, and contrast enhancement. Although color modification is a common forgery technique, there is no reported forensic method for detecting this type of manipulation. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm for estimating color modification in images acquired from digital cameras when the images are modified. Most commercial digital cameras are equipped with a color filter array (CFA) for acquiring the color information of each pixel. As a result, the images acquired from such digital cameras include a trace from the CFA pattern. This pattern is composed of the basic red green blue (RGB) colors, and it is changed when color modification is carried out on the image. We designed an advanced intermediate value counting method for measuring the change in the CFA pattern and estimating the extent of color modification. The proposed method is verified experimentally by using 10,366 test images. The results confirmed the ability of the proposed method to estimate color modification with high accuracy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Changes of menstruation patterns and adverse effects during the treatment of LNG-IUS for symptomatic adenomyosis].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, L; Leng, J H; Zhang, J J; Jia, S Z; Li, X Y; Shi, J H; Dai, Y; Zhang, J R; Li, T; Xu, X X; Liu, Z Z; You, S S; Chang, X Y; Lang, J H

2016-09-25

Objective: To investigate the changes of mestruation patterns and adverse effects during the treatment of levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system(LNG-IUS)for symptomatic adenomyosis in a prospective cohort study. Methods: From December, 2006 to December, 2014, patients of symptomatic adenomyosis diagnosed by transvaginal ultrasound in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were given LNG-IUS. Before and after placement of IUS, all patients' parameters were recorded, including carrying status of IUS, symptoms and scores of dysmenorrhea, menstruation scores, biochemical indicators, physical parameters, menstruation patterns and adverse effects. Risk factors for changes of menstruation patterns and adverse effects, and their impact on treatment effects were analyzed. Results: Totally 1 100 cases met inclusion criteria, with median age 36 years(range 20-44 years), median follow-up 35 months(range 1 -108 months). During follow-up changes of menstruation patterns increased significantly with amenorrhea and shortened-menstruation being the most common manifestations. On 3, 6, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 months after the placement of LNG-IUS, 0, 5.8%(43/744), 6.9%(47/682), 10.1%(60/595), 17.3%(87/502), 27.2%(104/383)and 29.6%(82/277)patients achieved amenorrhea respectively( P 12 months after placement, abdominal pain and body weight increasing ≥5 kg/year were the most common adverse effects. Changes of menstruation patterns, total and subclassifications of adverse effects were neither dependent on patient parameters, treatment modes and treatment effects, nor could predict future LNG-IUS carrying status(all P > 0.05). After taking out of LNG-IUS, most changes of menstruation and adverse effects disappeared. Conclusions: During the treatment of LNG-IUS for symptomatic adenomyosis, changes of menstruation patterns increase gradually with amenorrhea and shortened-menstruation being the most common manifestations, while adverse effects decrease significantly. Changes of

DTI and VBM reveal white matter changes without associated gray matter changes in patients with idiopathic restless legs syndrome

Science.gov (United States)

Belke, Marcus; Heverhagen, Johannes T; Keil, Boris; Rosenow, Felix; Oertel, Wolfgang H; Stiasny-Kolster, Karin; Knake, Susanne; Menzler, Katja

2015-01-01

Background and Purpose We evaluated cerebral white and gray matter changes in patients with iRLS in order to shed light on the pathophysiology of this disease. Methods Twelve patients with iRLS were compared to 12 age- and sex-matched controls using whole-head diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) techniques. Evaluation of the DTI scans included the voxelwise analysis of the fractional anisotropy (FA), radial diffusivity (RD), and axial diffusivity (AD). Results Diffusion tensor imaging revealed areas of altered FA in subcortical white matter bilaterally, mainly in temporal regions as well as in the right internal capsule, the pons, and the right cerebellum. These changes overlapped with changes in RD. Voxel-based morphometry did not reveal any gray matter alterations. Conclusions We showed altered diffusion properties in several white matter regions in patients with iRLS. White matter changes could mainly be attributed to changes in RD, a parameter thought to reflect altered myelination. Areas with altered white matter microstructure included areas in the internal capsule which include the corticospinal tract to the lower limbs, thereby supporting studies that suggest changes in sensorimotor pathways associated with RLS. PMID:26442748

Visual guidance of forward flight in hummingbirds reveals control based on image features instead of pattern velocity.

Science.gov (United States)

Dakin, Roslyn; Fellows, Tyee K; Altshuler, Douglas L

2016-08-02

Information about self-motion and obstacles in the environment is encoded by optic flow, the movement of images on the eye. Decades of research have revealed that flying insects control speed, altitude, and trajectory by a simple strategy of maintaining or balancing the translational velocity of images on the eyes, known as pattern velocity. It has been proposed that birds may use a similar algorithm but this hypothesis has not been tested directly. We examined the influence of pattern velocity on avian flight by manipulating the motion of patterns on the walls of a tunnel traversed by Anna's hummingbirds. Contrary to prediction, we found that lateral course control is not based on regulating nasal-to-temporal pattern velocity. Instead, birds closely monitored feature height in the vertical axis, and steered away from taller features even in the absence of nasal-to-temporal pattern velocity cues. For vertical course control, we observed that birds adjusted their flight altitude in response to upward motion of the horizontal plane, which simulates vertical descent. Collectively, our results suggest that birds avoid collisions using visual cues in the vertical axis. Specifically, we propose that birds monitor the vertical extent of features in the lateral visual field to assess distances to the side, and vertical pattern velocity to avoid collisions with the ground. These distinct strategies may derive from greater need to avoid collisions in birds, compared with small insects.

Complex (Nonstandard) Six-Layer Polytypes of Lizardite Revealed from Oblique-Texture Electron Diffraction Patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhukhlistov, A.P.; Zinchuk, N.N.; Kotel'nikov, D.D.

2004-01-01

Association of simple (1T and 3R) and two complex (nonstandard) orthogonal polytypes of the serpentine mineral lizardite from the Catoca kimberlite pipe (West Africa) association is revealed from oblique-texture electron diffraction patterns. A six-layer polytype with an ordered superposition of equally oriented layers (notation 3 2 3 2 3 4 3 4 3 6 3 6 or ++ - -00) belonging to the structural group A and a three-layer (336 or I,I,II) or a six-layer (336366 or I,I,II,I,II,II) polytype with alternating oppositely oriented layers and semi-disordered structure are identified using polytype analysis

The impact of ageing and changing utilization patterns on future cardiovascular drug expenditure: a pharmacoepidemiological projection approach

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kildemoes, Helle Wallach; Andersen, Morten; Støvring, Henrik

2010-01-01

To develop a method for projecting the impact of ageing and changing drug utilization patterns on future drug expenditure.......To develop a method for projecting the impact of ageing and changing drug utilization patterns on future drug expenditure....

Asian students change their eating patterns after living in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Pan, Y L; Dixon, Z; Himburg, S; Huffman, F

1999-01-01

To collect information on changes in dietary patterns among Asian students before and after immigration to the United States. A questionnaire designed to collect information about background, changes in food habits, and frequency of food consumption from a 72-item food list was mailed to subjects. Potential participants were students of local universities and junior colleges who were born in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, or Korea and were aged 18 years or older. All subjects were required to have been residing in the United States for at least 3 months before the start of the study. Questionnaires were mailed to 120 potential participants. Paired t tests were used to determine differences in eating patterns and frequency of food consumption of subjects before and after immigrating to the United States. Seventy-one questionnaires were returned. Because of missing information on 8 of these questionnaires, only 63 were used in the analysis, which gave a response rate of 53%. The number of students consuming only 2 meals per day increased significantly; 29 (46%) respondents skipped breakfast because of their school schedules. Despite no significant change in the frequency of snack consumption, a majority (n = 46; 73%) of the respondents were consuming more salty and sweet snack items. Subjects were eating out less often, but they were selecting more American-style fast foods when they did eat out. Significant increases were noted in consumption of fats/sweets, diary products, and fruits, and significant decreases were noted in the consumption of meat/meat alternatives and vegetables after immigration to the United States. Results of this study could be useful to dietetics practitioners as they observe changes in dietary patterns of Asian immigrants. These health professionals can use this information to plan nutrition education programs for Asian groups so that they can make informed decisions in adapting to new eating patterns and make wise food choices in their

Clustering Patterns of Engagement in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs): The Use of Learning Analytics to Reveal Student Categories

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, Mohammad; Ebner, Martin

2017-01-01

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are remote courses that excel in their students' heterogeneity and quantity. Due to the peculiarity of being massiveness, the large datasets generated by MOOC platforms require advanced tools and techniques to reveal hidden patterns for purposes of enhancing learning and educational behaviors. This publication…

The Changes of Interaction Patterns between Males and Famales in Love Relationships

OpenAIRE

川名　, 好裕

2014-01-01

Internet survey was conducted to study the changes of interaction patterns betweenmen and women in love relationships. Survey participants are 968 males and 967 females of all over Japan. Their ages are between 20～49. Samples were divided into 6 different love relationship phases: friend, unrequited, platonic, love-sexual, affianced and married. The degrees of contents of love relation interactions; communication, co-activities, body contacts were investigated. These interaction patterns were...

Sleep patterning changes in a prenatal stress model of depression

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sickmann, Helle Mark; Skoven, C; Bastlund, Jesper F

2018-01-01

/wakefulness behavior around the change from light-to-dark phase. Control and PNS Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with electrodes for continuous monitoring of electroencephalic activity used to determine behavioral state. The distribution of slow-wave sleep (SWS), rapid eye movement sleep (REMS) and wakefulness......Clinical depression is accompanied by changes in sleep patterning, which is controlled in a circadian fashion. It is thus desirable that animal models of depression mirror such diurnally-specific state alterations, along with other behavioral and physiological changes. We previously found several...... changes in behavior indicative of a depression-like phenotype in offspring of rats subjected to repeated, variable prenatal stress (PNS), including increased locomotor activity during specific periods of the circadian cycle. We, therefore, investigated whether PNS rats also exhibit alterations in sleep...

Simulating spatial patterns of land-use change in Rondonia, Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dale, V.H.; Southworth, F.; O'Neill, R.V.; Rosen, A.

1992-01-01

Large scale deforestation in the Brazilian state of Rondonia has resulted from massive colonization and has caused increases in atmospheric CO 2 , soil degradation, loss of extractive resources, and disruption of indigenous populations. A simulation model has been developed that integrates colonization, socioeconomic, and ecological submodels to estimate spatial patterns and rates of deforestation under different immigration policies, land tenure practices, and road development scenarios. It is used to model the socioeconomic causes and ecological impacts of rapid deforestation in Rondonia. The simulation can be used to identify scenarios that might optimize economic and agricultural sustainability or reduce emigration. Spatial analysis of the simulation projections shows that very different patterns of deforestation can result depending on whether soil suitability, distance to market or lot size is the prime factor affecting a colonist's choice of a lot. Projections of the amount and pattern of deforestation under specific scenarios of land-use choice and management can be used to explore the socioeconomic and ecological implications of land-use change

Vertical Movements and Patterns in Diving Behavior of Whale Sharks as Revealed by Pop-Up Satellite Tags in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.

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John P Tyminski

Full Text Available The whale shark (Rhincodon typus is a wide-ranging, filter-feeding species typically observed at or near the surface. This shark's sub-surface habits and behaviors have only begun to be revealed in recent years through the use of archival and satellite tagging technology. We attached pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags to 35 whale sharks in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula from 2003-2012 and three tags to whale sharks in the northeastern Gulf off Florida in 2010, to examine these sharks' long-term movement patterns and gain insight into the underlying factors influencing their vertical habitat selection. Archived data were received from 31 tags deployed on sharks of both sexes with total lengths of 5.5-9 m. Nine of these tags were physically recovered facilitating a detailed long-term view into the sharks' vertical movements. Whale sharks feeding inshore on fish eggs off the northeast Yucatan Peninsula demonstrated reverse diel vertical migration, with extended periods of surface swimming beginning at sunrise followed by an abrupt change in the mid-afternoon to regular vertical oscillations, a pattern that continued overnight. When in oceanic waters, sharks spent about 95% of their time within epipelagic depths (500 m that largely occurred during daytime or twilight hours (max. depth recorded 1,928 m, had V-shaped depth-time profiles, and comprised more rapid descents (0.68 m sec-1 than ascents (0.50 m sec-1. Nearly half of these extreme dives had descent profiles with brief but conspicuous changes in vertical direction at a mean depth of 475 m. We hypothesize these stutter steps represent foraging events within the deep scattering layer, however, the extreme dives may have additional functions. Overall, our results demonstrate complex and dynamic patterns of habitat utilization for R. typus that appear to be in response to changing biotic and abiotic conditions influencing the distribution and abundance of their

Vertical Movements and Patterns in Diving Behavior of Whale Sharks as Revealed by Pop-Up Satellite Tags in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Tyminski, John P.; de la Parra-Venegas, Rafael; González Cano, Jaime; Hueter, Robert E.

2015-01-01

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a wide-ranging, filter-feeding species typically observed at or near the surface. This shark’s sub-surface habits and behaviors have only begun to be revealed in recent years through the use of archival and satellite tagging technology. We attached pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags to 35 whale sharks in the southeastern Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan Peninsula from 2003–2012 and three tags to whale sharks in the northeastern Gulf off Florida in 2010, to examine these sharks’ long-term movement patterns and gain insight into the underlying factors influencing their vertical habitat selection. Archived data were received from 31 tags deployed on sharks of both sexes with total lengths of 5.5–9 m. Nine of these tags were physically recovered facilitating a detailed long-term view into the sharks’ vertical movements. Whale sharks feeding inshore on fish eggs off the northeast Yucatan Peninsula demonstrated reverse diel vertical migration, with extended periods of surface swimming beginning at sunrise followed by an abrupt change in the mid-afternoon to regular vertical oscillations, a pattern that continued overnight. When in oceanic waters, sharks spent about 95% of their time within epipelagic depths (500 m) that largely occurred during daytime or twilight hours (max. depth recorded 1,928 m), had V-shaped depth-time profiles, and comprised more rapid descents (0.68 m sec-1) than ascents (0.50 m sec-1). Nearly half of these extreme dives had descent profiles with brief but conspicuous changes in vertical direction at a mean depth of 475 m. We hypothesize these stutter steps represent foraging events within the deep scattering layer, however, the extreme dives may have additional functions. Overall, our results demonstrate complex and dynamic patterns of habitat utilization for R. typus that appear to be in response to changing biotic and abiotic conditions influencing the distribution and abundance of their prey

Development of infant mismatch responses to auditory pattern changes between 2 and 4 months old.

Science.gov (United States)

He, Chao; Hotson, Lisa; Trainor, Laurel J

2009-02-01

In order to process speech and music, the auditory cortex must learn to process patterns of sounds. Our previous studies showed that with a stream consisting of a repeating (standard) sound, younger infants show an increase in the amplitude of a positive slow wave in response to occasional changes (deviants) in pitch or duration, whereas older infants show a faster negative response that resembles mismatch negativity (MMN) in adults (Trainor et al., 2001, 2003; He et al., 2007). MMN reflects an automatic change-detection process that does not require attention, conscious awareness or behavioural response for its elicitation (Picton et al., 2000; Näätänen et al., 2007). It is an important tool for understanding auditory perception because MMN reflects a change-detection mechanism, and not simply that repetition of a stimulus results in a refractory state of sensory neural circuits while occasional changes to a new sound activate new non-refractory neural circuits (Näätänen et al., 2005). For example, MMN is elicited by a change in the pattern of a repeating note sequence, even when no new notes are introduced that could activate new sensory circuits (Alain et al., 1994, 1999;Schröger et al., 1996). In the present study, we show that in response to a change in the pattern of two repeating tones, MMN in 4-month-olds remains robust whereas the 2-month-old response does not. This indicates that the MMN response to a change in pattern at 4 months reflects the activation of a change-detection mechanism similarly as in adults.

Multimodal MR-imaging reveals large-scale structural and functional connectivity changes in profound early blindness

Science.gov (United States)

Bauer, Corinna M.; Hirsch, Gabriella V.; Zajac, Lauren; Koo, Bang-Bon; Collignon, Olivier

2017-01-01

In the setting of profound ocular blindness, numerous lines of evidence demonstrate the existence of dramatic anatomical and functional changes within the brain. However, previous studies based on a variety of distinct measures have often provided inconsistent findings. To help reconcile this issue, we used a multimodal magnetic resonance (MR)-based imaging approach to provide complementary structural and functional information regarding this neuroplastic reorganization. This included gray matter structural morphometry, high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) of white matter connectivity and integrity, and resting state functional connectivity MRI (rsfcMRI) analysis. When comparing the brains of early blind individuals to sighted controls, we found evidence of co-occurring decreases in cortical volume and cortical thickness within visual processing areas of the occipital and temporal cortices respectively. Increases in cortical volume in the early blind were evident within regions of parietal cortex. Investigating white matter connections using HARDI revealed patterns of increased and decreased connectivity when comparing both groups. In the blind, increased white matter connectivity (indexed by increased fiber number) was predominantly left-lateralized, including between frontal and temporal areas implicated with language processing. Decreases in structural connectivity were evident involving frontal and somatosensory regions as well as between occipital and cingulate cortices. Differences in white matter integrity (as indexed by quantitative anisotropy, or QA) were also in general agreement with observed pattern changes in the number of white matter fibers. Analysis of resting state sequences showed evidence of both increased and decreased functional connectivity in the blind compared to sighted controls. Specifically, increased connectivity was evident between temporal and inferior frontal areas. Decreases in functional connectivity were observed

Trace metal depositional patterns from an open pit mining activity as revealed by archived avian gizzard contents

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bendell, L.I., E-mail: bendell@sfu.ca

2011-02-15

Archived samples of blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) gizzard contents, inclusive of grit, collected yearly between 1959 and 1970 were analyzed for cadmium, lead, zinc, and copper content. Approximately halfway through the 12-year sampling period, an open-pit copper mine began activities, then ceased operations 2 years later. Thus the archived samples provided a unique opportunity to determine if avian gizzard contents, inclusive of grit, could reveal patterns in the anthropogenic deposition of trace metals associated with mining activities. Gizzard concentrations of cadmium and copper strongly coincided with the onset of opening and the closing of the pit mining activity. Gizzard zinc and lead demonstrated significant among year variation; however, maximum concentrations did not correlate to mining activity. The archived gizzard contents did provide a useful tool for documenting trends in metal depositional patterns related to an anthropogenic activity. Further, blue grouse ingesting grit particles during the time of active mining activity would have been exposed to toxicologically significant levels of cadmium. Gizzard lead concentrations were also of toxicological significance but not related to mining activity. This type of 'pulse' toxic metal exposure as a consequence of open-pit mining activity would not necessarily have been revealed through a 'snap-shot' of soil, plant or avian tissue trace metal analysis post-mining activity. - Research Highlights: {yields} Archived gizzard samples reveals mining history. {yields} Grit ingestion exposes grouse to cadmium and lead. {yields} Grit selection includes particles enriched in cadmium. {yields} Cadmium enriched particles are of toxicological significance.

Angiogenesis interactome and time course microarray data reveal the distinct activation patterns in endothelial cells.

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Liang-Hui Chu

Full Text Available Angiogenesis involves stimulation of endothelial cells (EC by various cytokines and growth factors, but the signaling mechanisms are not completely understood. Combining dynamic gene expression time-course data for stimulated EC with protein-protein interactions associated with angiogenesis (the "angiome" could reveal how different stimuli result in different patterns of network activation and could implicate signaling intermediates as points for control or intervention. We constructed the protein-protein interaction networks of positive and negative regulation of angiogenesis comprising 367 and 245 proteins, respectively. We used five published gene expression datasets derived from in vitro assays using different types of blood endothelial cells stimulated by VEGFA (vascular endothelial growth factor A. We used the Short Time-series Expression Miner (STEM to identify significant temporal gene expression profiles. The statistically significant patterns between 2D fibronectin and 3D type I collagen substrates for telomerase-immortalized EC (TIME show that different substrates could influence the temporal gene activation patterns in the same cell line. We investigated the different activation patterns among 18 transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptors, and experimentally measured the protein level of the tyrosine-kinase receptors VEGFR1, VEGFR2 and VEGFR3 in human umbilical vein EC (HUVEC and human microvascular EC (MEC. The results show that VEGFR1-VEGFR2 levels are more closely coupled than VEGFR1-VEGFR3 or VEGFR2-VEGFR3 in HUVEC and MEC. This computational methodology can be extended to investigate other molecules or biological processes such as cell cycle.

Determinants of changes in dietary patterns among Chinese immigrants: a cross-sectional analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seidell Jaap

2011-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Chinese individuals who have immigrated to a Western country initially tend to have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD compared to people who are already living there. Some studies have found, however, that CVD risk increases over time in immigrants and that immigration to a western country is associated with changes in dietary patterns. This could have unfavourable effects on the risk of CVD. There is limited knowledge on the food patterns, awareness and knowledge about healthy nutrition among Chinese immigrants. The objective for this study is to explore changes in food patterns, and levels of awareness and knowledge of healthy nutrition by length of residence among Chinese immigrants to Canada. Methods 120 Chinese individuals born in China but currently living in Canada completed an assessment on socio-demographic characteristics, changes in dietary patterns and variables of awareness and knowledge about healthy foods. With ordinal logistic regression the associations between the quartiles of length of residence and dietary patterns, variables of awareness and knowledge about healthy foods were explored, adjusting for age, sex, education and body mass index. Results More than 50% of the participants reported increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables, decreasing the use of deep-frying after immigration. Increased awareness and knowledge about healthy foods was reported by more than 50% of the participants. Ordinal regression indicated that Chinese immigrants who lived in Canada the longest, compared to Chinese immigrants who lived in Canada the shortest, consumed significant greater portion sizes (OR: 9.9; 95% CI: 3.11 - 31.15, dined out more frequently (OR: 15.8; 95% CI: 5.0 - 49.85, and consumed convenience foods more often (OR: 3.5; 95% CI: 1.23 - 10.01. Conclusions Chinese immigrants reported some favourable changes in their dietary intake and greater awareness and more knowledge about healthy foods after

Personality and Changes in Comorbidity Patterns Among Anxiety and Depressive Disorders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spinhoven, Philip; de Rooij, Mark; Heiser, Willem; Smit, Johannes H.; Penninx, Brenda

2012-01-01

This prospective study examined the prognostic value of the Big Five personality model for changes in comorbidity patterns of emotional disorders both from a person- and trait-centered perspective. Moreover, it is investigated whether the predictive effect of personality can be attributed to symptom

Personality and changes in comorbidity patterns among anxiety and depressive disorders

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Spinhoven, P.; de Rooij, M.; Heiser, W.; Smit, J.H.; Penninx, B.W.J.H.

2012-01-01

This prospective study examined the prognostic value of the Big Five personality model for changes in comorbidity patterns of emotional disorders both from a person- and trait-centered perspective. Moreover, it is investigated whether the predictive effect of personality can be attributed to symptom

Evapotranspiration patterns in complex upland forests reveal contrasting topographic thresholds of non-linearity

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Metzen, D.; Sheridan, G. J.; Benyon, R. G.; Bolstad, P. V.; Nyman, P.; Lane, P. N. J.

2017-12-01

seasonality and overstory LAI explained 61% of variations in ET partitioning over the entire domain. Strong links between vegetation, topography and energy and water fluxes offer the potential to exploit terrain and vegetation patterns to infer spatio-temporal ET dynamics ultimately helping manage water resources in a changing climate.

Quantifying Forest Spatial Pattern Trends at Multiple Extents: An Approach to Detect Significant Changes at Different Scales

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Ludovico Frate

2014-09-01

Full Text Available We propose a procedure to detect significant changes in forest spatial patterns and relevant scales. Our approach consists of four sequential steps. First, based on a series of multi-temporal forest maps, a set of geographic windows of increasing extents are extracted. Second, for each extent and date, specific stochastic simulations that replicate real-world spatial pattern characteristics are run. Third, by computing pattern metrics on both simulated and real maps, their empirical distributions and confidence intervals are derived. Finally, multi-temporal scalograms are built for each metric. Based on cover maps (1954, 2011 with a resolution of 10 m we analyze forest pattern changes in a central Apennines (Italy reserve at multiple spatial extents (128, 256 and 512 pixels. We identify three types of multi-temporal scalograms, depending on pattern metric behaviors, describing different dynamics of natural reforestation process. The statistical distribution and variability of pattern metrics at multiple extents offers a new and powerful tool to detect forest variations over time. Similar procedures can (i help to identify significant changes in spatial patterns and provide the bases to relate them to landscape processes; (ii minimize the bias when comparing pattern metrics at a single extent and (iii be extended to other landscapes and scales.

A model of phone call intervention in sensitizing the change of dietary pattern

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Eliane Corrêa Chaves

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Objective: To propose a model of phone call intervention for changing dietary patterns and to assess its effectiveness. Method: A study carried out at the Health Promotion School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, with 27 subjects, 3-5 phone calls contacts per user, by means of which were given orientations and interventions on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and the Transtheoretical Model on healthy eating. We analyzed the variables weight and body mass index, dietary patterns and overall stage of motivation to change. The data were submitted to analysis of variance with repeated measures at different stages of evaluation: pre-contact, 3rd and 5th phone calls. Results: After intervention, users showed a change in eating behavior in the third contact, and change occurred in weight and BMI in one patient. All findings were not statistically significant. There was improvement in the motivation to acquire new eating habits, also not significant. Conclusion: There was a slight change in feeding behavior, the motivation to change improved for all participants, without, however, have been effective in this type of approach.

The internal auditory clock: what can evoked potentials reveal about the analysis of temporal sound patterns, and abnormal states of consciousness?

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Jones, S J

2002-09-01

Whereas in vision a large amount of information may in theory be extracted from instantaneous images, sound exists only in its temporal extent, and most of its information is contained in the pattern of changes over time. The "echoic memory" is a pre-attentive auditory sensory store in which sounds are apparently retained in full temporal detail for a period of a few seconds. From the long-latency auditory evoked potentials to spectro-temporal modulation of complex harmonic tones, at least two automatic sound analysis processes can be identified whose time constants suggest participation of the echoic memory. When a steady tone changes its pitch or timbre, "change-type" CP1, CN1 and CP2 potentials are maximally recorded near the vertex. These potentials appear to reflect a process concerned with the distribution of sound energy across the frequency spectrum. When, on the other hand, changes occur in the temporal pattern of tones (in which individual pitch changes are occurring at a rate sufficiently rapid for the C-potentials to be refractory), a large mismatch negativity (or MN1) and following positivity (MP2) are generated. The amplitude of these potentials is influenced by the degree of regularity of the pattern, larger responses being generated to a "deviant" tone when the pitch and time of occurrence of the "standards" are fully specified by the preceding pattern. At the sudden cessation of changes, on resumption of a steady pitch, a mismatch response is generated whose latency is determined with high precision (in the order of a few milliseconds) by the anticipated time of the next change, which did not in fact occur. The mismatch process, therefore, functions as spectro-temporal auditory pattern analyser, whose consequences are manifested each time the pattern changes. Since calibration of the passage of time is essential for all conscious and subconscious behaviour, is it possible that some states of unconsciousness may be directly due to disruption of

Does the diurnal pattern of enteric methane emissions from dairy cows change over time?

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Bell, M J; Craigon, J; Saunders, N; Goodman, J R; Garnsworthy, P C

2018-02-22

Diet manipulation and genetic selection are two important mitigation strategies for reducing enteric methane (CH4) emissions from ruminant livestock. The aim of this study was to assess whether the diurnal pattern of CH4 emissions from individual dairy cows changes over time when cows are fed on diets varying in forage composition. Emissions of CH4 from 36 cows were measured during milking in an automatic (robotic) milking station in three consecutive feeding periods, for a total of 84 days. In Periods 1 and 2, the 36 cows were fed a high-forage partial mixed ration (PMR) containing 75% forage, with either a high grass silage or high maize silage content. In Period 3, cows were fed a commercial PMR containing 69% forage. Cows were offered PMR ad libitum plus concentrates during milking and CH4 emitted by individual cows was sampled during 8662 milkings. A linear mixed model was used to assess differences among cows, feeding periods and time of day. Considerable variation was observed among cows in daily mean and diurnal patterns of CH4 emissions. On average, cows produced less CH4 when fed on the commercial PMR in feeding Period 3 than when the same cows were fed on high-forage diets in feeding Periods 1 and 2. The average diurnal pattern for CH4 emissions did not significantly change between feeding periods and as lactation progressed. Emissions of CH4 were positively associated with dry matter (DM) intake and forage DM intake. It is concluded that if the management of feed allocation remains constant then the diurnal pattern of CH4 emissions from dairy cows will not necessarily alter over time. A change in diet composition may bring about an increase or decrease in absolute emissions over a 24-h period without significantly changing the diurnal pattern unless management of feed allocation changes. These findings are important for CH4 monitoring techniques that involve taking measurements over short periods within a day rather than complete 24-h observations.

Change detection for synthetic aperture radar images based on pattern and intensity distinctiveness analysis

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Wang, Xiao; Gao, Feng; Dong, Junyu; Qi, Qiang

2018-04-01

Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image is independent on atmospheric conditions, and it is the ideal image source for change detection. Existing methods directly analysis all the regions in the speckle noise contaminated difference image. The performance of these methods is easily affected by small noisy regions. In this paper, we proposed a novel change detection framework for saliency-guided change detection based on pattern and intensity distinctiveness analysis. The saliency analysis step can remove small noisy regions, and therefore makes the proposed method more robust to the speckle noise. In the proposed method, the log-ratio operator is first utilized to obtain a difference image (DI). Then, the saliency detection method based on pattern and intensity distinctiveness analysis is utilized to obtain the changed region candidates. Finally, principal component analysis and k-means clustering are employed to analysis pixels in the changed region candidates. Thus, the final change map can be obtained by classifying these pixels into changed or unchanged class. The experiment results on two real SAR images datasets have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Soil Landscape Pattern Changes in Response to Rural Anthropogenic Activity across Tiaoxi Watershed, China

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Xiao, Rui; Jiang, Diwei; Christakos, George; Fei, Xufeng; Wu, Jiaping

2016-01-01

Soil sealing (loss of soil resources due to extensive land covering for the purpose of house building, road construction etc.) and subsequent soil landscape pattern changes constitute typical environmental problems in many places worldwide. Previous studies concentrated on soil sealing in urbanized regions, whereas rural areas have not been given sufficient attention. Accordingly, this paper studies soil landscape pattern dynamics (i.e., landscape pattern changes in response to rural anthropogenic activities) in the Tiaoxi watershed (Zhejiang province, eastern China), in which surface sealing is by far the predominant component of human forcing with respect to environmental change. A novel approach of quantifying the impacts of rural anthropogenic activities on soil resources is presented. Specifically, quantitative relationships were derived between five soil landscape pattern metrics (patch density, edge density, shape index, Shannon’s diversity index and aggregation index) and three rural anthropogenic activity indicators (anthropogenic activity intensity, distance to towns, and distance to roads) at two landscape block scales (3 and 5 km) between 1985 and 2010. The results showed that the Tiaoxi watershed experienced extensive rural settlement expansion and high rates of soil sealing. Soil landscapes became more fragmented, more irregular, more isolated, and less diverse. Relationships between soil landscape pattern changes and rural anthropogenic activities differed with the scale (spatial and temporal) and variable considered. In particular, the anthropogenic activity intensity was found to be the most important indicator explaining social development intensity, whereas the other two proximity indicators had a significant impact at certain temporal interval. In combination with scale effects, spatial dependency (correlation) was shown to play a key role that should be carefully taken into consideration in any relevant environmental study. Overall, the

Learning to Recognize Patterns: Changes in the Visual Field with Familiarity

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Bebko, James M.; Uchikawa, Keiji; Saida, Shinya; Ikeda, Mitsuo

1995-01-01

Two studies were conducted to investigate changes which take place in the visual information processing of novel stimuli as they become familiar. Japanese writing characters (Hiragana and Kanji) which were unfamiliar to two native English speaking subjects were presented using a moving window technique to restrict their visual fields. Study time for visual recognition was recorded across repeated sessions, and with varying visual field restrictions. The critical visual field was defined as the size of the visual field beyond which further increases did not improve the speed of recognition performance. In the first study, when the Hiragana patterns were novel, subjects needed to see about half of the entire pattern simultaneously to maintain optimal performance. However, the critical visual field size decreased as familiarity with the patterns increased. These results were replicated in the second study with more complex Kanji characters. In addition, the critical field size decreased as pattern complexity decreased. We propose a three component model of pattern perception. In the first stage a representation of the stimulus must be constructed by the subject, and restricting of the visual field interferes dramatically with this component when stimuli are unfamiliar. With increased familiarity, subjects become able to reconstruct a previous representation from very small, unique segments of the pattern, analogous to the informativeness areas hypothesized by Loftus and Mackworth [J. Exp. Psychol., 4 (1978) 565].

Spectro-temporal modulation masking patterns reveal frequency selectivity.

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Oetjen, Arne; Verhey, Jesko L

2015-02-01

The present study investigated the possibility that the human auditory system demonstrates frequency selectivity to spectro-temporal amplitude modulations. Threshold modulation depth for detecting sinusoidal spectro-temporal modulations was measured using a generalized masked threshold pattern paradigm with narrowband masker modulations. Four target spectro-temporal modulations were examined, differing in their temporal and spectral modulation frequencies: a temporal modulation of -8, 8, or 16 Hz combined with a spectral modulation of 1 cycle/octave and a temporal modulation of 4 Hz combined with a spectral modulation of 0.5 cycles/octave. The temporal center frequencies of the masker modulation ranged from 0.25 to 4 times the target temporal modulation. The spectral masker-modulation center-frequencies were 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 times the target spectral modulation. For all target modulations, the pattern of average thresholds for the eight normal-hearing listeners was consistent with the hypothesis of a spectro-temporal modulation filter. Such a pattern of modulation-frequency sensitivity was predicted on the basis of psychoacoustical data for purely temporal amplitude modulations and purely spectral amplitude modulations. An analysis of separability indicates that, for the present data set, selectivity in the spectro-temporal modulation domain can be described by a combination of a purely spectral and a purely temporal modulation filter function.

First record of plicidentine in Synapsida and patterns of tooth root shape change in Early Permian sphenacodontians.

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Brink, Kirstin S; LeBlanc, Aaron R H; Reisz, Robert R

2014-11-01

Recent histological studies have revealed a diversity of dental features in Permo-Carboniferous tetrapods. Here, we report on the occurrence of plicidentine (infolded dentine around the base of the tooth root) in Sphenacodontia, the first such documentation in Synapsida, the clade that includes mammals. Five taxa were examined histologically, Ianthodon schultzei, Sphenacodon ferocior, Dimetrodon limbatus, Dimetrodon grandis, and Secodontosaurus obtusidens. The tooth roots of Ianthodon possess multiple folds, which is generally viewed as the primitive condition for amniotes. Sphenacodon and D. limbatus have distinctive "four-leaf clover"-shaped roots in cross section, whereas Secodontosaurus has an elongate square shape with only subtle folding. The most derived and largest taxon examined in this study, D. grandis, has rounded roots in cross section and therefore no plicidentine. This pattern of a loss of plicidentine in sphenacodontids supports previous functional hypotheses of plicidentine, where teeth with shallow roots require folds to increase the area of attachment to the tooth-bearing element, whereas teeth with long roots do not. This pattern may also reflect differences in diet between co-occurring sphenacodontids as well as changes in feeding niche through time, specifically in the apex predator Dimetrodon.

Increase in flood risk resulting from climate change in a developed urban watershed - the role of storm temporal patterns

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Hettiarachchi, Suresh; Wasko, Conrad; Sharma, Ashish

2018-03-01

The effects of climate change are causing more frequent extreme rainfall events and an increased risk of flooding in developed areas. Quantifying this increased risk is of critical importance for the protection of life and property as well as for infrastructure planning and design. The updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Atlas 14 intensity-duration-frequency (IDF) relationships and temporal patterns are widely used in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for design and planning in the United States. Current literature shows that rising temperatures as a result of climate change will result in an intensification of rainfall. These impacts are not explicitly included in the NOAA temporal patterns, which can have consequences on the design and planning of adaptation and flood mitigation measures. In addition there is a lack of detailed hydraulic modeling when assessing climate change impacts on flooding. The study presented in this paper uses a comprehensive hydrologic and hydraulic model of a fully developed urban/suburban catchment to explore two primary questions related to climate change impacts on flood risk. (1) How do climate change effects on storm temporal patterns and rainfall volumes impact flooding in a developed complex watershed? (2) Is the storm temporal pattern as critical as the total volume of rainfall when evaluating urban flood risk? We use the NOAA Atlas 14 temporal patterns, along with the expected increase in temperature for the RCP8.5 scenario for 2081-2100, to project temporal patterns and rainfall volumes to reflect future climatic change. The model results show that different rainfall patterns cause variability in flood depths during a storm event. The changes in the projected temporal patterns alone increase the risk of flood magnitude up to 35 %, with the cumulative impacts of temperature rise on temporal patterns and the storm volume increasing flood risk from 10 to 170 %. The results also show that regional

MRI enhancing patterns of non-meningioma meningeal lesions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tao Xiaofeng; Ding Juan; Xiao Xiangsheng; Shi Zengru; Yu Hong; Gu Qian

2004-01-01

Objective: To analyze the MRI appearances of meningeal diseases and to study MRI diagnostic value of enhancing patterns in different meningeal processes. Methods: Sixty-one patients with integrated clinical data, including 27 infectious meningitis, 4 inflammatory meningitis (2 eosinophilic granuloma, 1 Wegener granuloma, and 1 unknown etiological factor), 12 meningeal metastasis, 2 meningeal lymphoma, 8 cerebrovascular disease, and 8 postoperative changes, were reviewed retrospectively. All patients were examined on MRI before and after contrast administration. Results: (1) MR plain scan: positive findings of plain scan were revealed in only 3 cases, including 1 linear meningeal thickening pattern and 2 nodular pattern. (2) MR enhancement: All cases showed 3 kinds of enhancing patterns: 19 dural-arachnoid pattern, 32 pia-arachnoid pattern, and 10 total meninges pattern, respectively. Conclusion: Different meningeal diseases have different MR imaging manifestations. Creating the enhancement patterns of various diseases can have great clinical significance. (authors)

A recovery principle provides insight into auxin pattern control in the Arabidopsis root

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Moore, Simon; Liu, Junli; Zhang, Xiaoxian; Lindsey, Keith

2017-01-01

Regulated auxin patterning provides a key mechanism for controlling root growth and development. We have developed a data-driven mechanistic model using realistic root geometry and formulated a principle to theoretically investigate quantitative auxin pattern recovery following auxin transport perturbation. This principle reveals that auxin patterning is potentially controlled by multiple combinations of interlinked levels and localisation of influx and efflux carriers. We demonstrate that (1) when efflux carriers maintain polarity but change levels, maintaining the same auxin pattern requires non-uniform and polar distribution of influx carriers; (2) the emergence of the same auxin pattern, from different levels of influx carriers with the same nonpolar localisation, requires simultaneous modulation of efflux carrier level and polarity; and (3) multiple patterns of influx and efflux carriers for maintaining an auxin pattern do not have spatially proportional correlation. This reveals that auxin pattern formation requires coordination between influx and efflux carriers. We further show that the model makes various predictions that can be experimentally validated. PMID:28220889

Climate change and farmers’ cropping patterns in Cemoro watershed area, Central Java, Indonesia

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Sugihardjo; Sutrisno, J.; Setyono, P.; Suntoro

2018-03-01

Cropping pattern applied by farmers is usually based on the availability of water. Farmers cultivate rice when water is available. If it is unavailable, farmers will choose to plant crops that need less water. Climate change greatly affects to farmers in determining the cropping pattern as it alters the rainfall pattern and distribution in the region. This condition requires farmers to adjust the cropping pattern so that they can do the farming successfully. This study aims to examine the application of cropping patterns applied by the farmers in the Cemoro Watershed, Central Java, Indonesia. Descriptive analysis approach is employed in this research. The results showed that farmers’ cropping pattern is not based on the availability of water. However, it adopts a habit that has been practiced since long time ago or just adopt others farmer's habit. The cropping pattern applied by irrigated paddy farmers in Cemoro watershed area consists of two types: rice-rice-rice and rice-rice-secondary crops. Among those two types, most farmers apply the rice-rice-rice pattern. Meanwhile, there are three cropping patterns applied in the rain-land, namely rice-rice-rice, rice-rice-secondary crop, and rice-rice-fallow. The majority of farmers apply the second pattern (rice-rice-secondary crops). It was also found that farmers’ cropping pattern was not in accordance with the recommendation of the local government.

FHR patterns that become significant in connection with ST waveform changes and metabolic acidosis at birth.

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Rosén, Karl G; Norén, Håkan; Carlsson, Ann

2018-04-18

Recent developments have produced new CTG classification systems and the question is to what extent these may affect the model of FHR + ST interpretation? The two new systems (FIGO2015 and SSOG2017) classify FHR + ST events differently from the current CTG classification system used in the STAN interpretation algorithm (STAN2007). Identify the predominant FHR patterns in connection with ST events in cases of cord artery metabolic acidosis missed by the different CTG classification systems. Indicate to what extent STAN clinical guidelines could be modified enhancing the sensitivity. Provide a pathophysiological rationale. Forty-four cases with umbilical cord artery metabolic acidosis were retrieved from a European multicenter database. Significant FHR + ST events were evaluated post hoc in consensus by an expert panel. Eighteen cases were not identified as in need of intervention and regarded as negative in the sensitivity analysis. In 12 cases, ST changes occurred but the CTG was regarded as reassuring. Visual analysis of the FHR + ST tracings revealed specific FHR patterns: Conclusion: These findings indicate FHR + ST analysis may be undertaken regardless of CTG classification system provided there is a more physiologically oriented approach to FHR assessment in connection with an ST event.

The Changing Pattern of Nontuberculous Mycobacterial Disease

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph O Falkinham

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Nontuberculous mycobacteria are human opportunistic pathogens whose source of infection is the environment. These include both slow-growing (eg, Mycobacterium kansasii and Mycobacterium avium and rapid-growing (eg, Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium fortuitum species. Transmission is through ingestion or inhalation of water, particulate matter or aerosols, or through trauma. The historic presentation of pulmonary disease in older individuals with predisposing lung conditions and in children has been changing. Pulmonary disease in elderly individuals who lack the classic predisposing lung conditions is increasing. Pulmonary disease and hypersensitivity pneumonitis have been linked with occupational or home exposures to nontuberculous mycobacteria. There has been a shift from Mycobacterium scrofulaceum to M avium in children with cervical lymphadenitis. Further, individuals who are immunosuppressed due to therapy or HIV-infection are at a greatly increased risk for nontuberculous mycobacterial infection. The changing pattern of nontuberculous mycobacterial disease is due in part to the ability of these pathogens to survive and proliferate in habitats that they share with humans, such as drinking water. The advent of an aging population and an increase in the proportion of immunosuppressed individuals suggest that the prevalence of nontuberculous mycobacterial disease will increase.

Potential for tree rings to reveal spatial patterns of past drought variability across western Australia

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O'Donnell, Alison J.; Cook, Edward R.; Palmer, Jonathan G.; Turney, Chris S. M.; Grierson, Pauline F.

2018-02-01

Proxy records have provided major insights into the variability of past climates over long timescales. However, for much of the Southern Hemisphere, the ability to identify spatial patterns of past climatic variability is constrained by the sparse distribution of proxy records. This is particularly true for mainland Australia, where relatively few proxy records are located. Here, we (1) assess the potential to use existing proxy records in the Australasian region—starting with the only two multi-century tree-ring proxies from mainland Australia—to reveal spatial patterns of past hydroclimatic variability across the western third of the continent, and (2) identify strategic locations to target for the development of new proxy records. We show that the two existing tree-ring records allow robust reconstructions of past hydroclimatic variability over spatially broad areas (i.e. > 3° × 3°) in inland north- and south-western Australia. Our results reveal synchronous periods of drought and wet conditions between the inland northern and southern regions of western Australia as well as a generally anti-phase relationship with hydroclimate in eastern Australia over the last two centuries. The inclusion of 174 tree-ring proxy records from Tasmania, New Zealand and Indonesia and a coral record from Queensland did not improve the reconstruction potential over western Australia. However, our findings suggest that the addition of relatively few new proxy records from key locations in western Australia that currently have low reconstruction skill will enable the development of a comprehensive drought atlas for the region, and provide a critical link to the drought atlases of monsoonal Asia and eastern Australia and New Zealand.

Repeat synoptic sampling reveals drivers of change in carbon and nutrient chemistry of Arctic catchments

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Zarnetske, J. P.; Abbott, B. W.; Bowden, W. B.; Iannucci, F.; Griffin, N.; Parker, S.; Pinay, G.; Aanderud, Z.

2017-12-01

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC), nutrients, and other solute concentrations are increasing in rivers across the Arctic. Two hypotheses have been proposed to explain these trends: 1. distributed, top-down permafrost degradation, and 2. discrete, point-source delivery of DOC and nutrients from permafrost collapse features (thermokarst). While long-term monitoring at a single station cannot discriminate between these mechanisms, synoptic sampling of multiple points in the stream network could reveal the spatial structure of solute sources. In this context, we sampled carbon and nutrient chemistry three times over two years in 119 subcatchments of three distinct Arctic catchments (North Slope, Alaska). Subcatchments ranged from 0.1 to 80 km2, and included three distinct types of Arctic landscapes - mountainous, tundra, and glacial-lake catchments. We quantified the stability of spatial patterns in synoptic water chemistry and analyzed high-frequency time series from the catchment outlets across the thaw season to identify source areas for DOC, nutrients, and major ions. We found that variance in solute concentrations between subcatchments collapsed at spatial scales between 1 to 20 km2, indicating a continuum of diffuse- and point-source dynamics, depending on solute and catchment characteristics (e.g. reactivity, topography, vegetation, surficial geology). Spatially-distributed mass balance revealed conservative transport of DOC and nitrogen, and indicates there may be strong in-stream retention of phosphorus, providing a network-scale confirmation of previous reach-scale studies in these Arctic catchments. Overall, we present new approaches to analyzing synoptic data for change detection and quantification of ecohydrological mechanisms in ecosystems in the Arctic and beyond.

Trace metal depositional patterns from an open pit mining activity as revealed by archived avian gizzard contents.

Science.gov (United States)

Bendell, L I

2011-02-15

Archived samples of blue grouse (Dendragapus obscurus) gizzard contents, inclusive of grit, collected yearly between 1959 and 1970 were analyzed for cadmium, lead, zinc, and copper content. Approximately halfway through the 12-year sampling period, an open-pit copper mine began activities, then ceased operations 2 years later. Thus the archived samples provided a unique opportunity to determine if avian gizzard contents, inclusive of grit, could reveal patterns in the anthropogenic deposition of trace metals associated with mining activities. Gizzard concentrations of cadmium and copper strongly coincided with the onset of opening and the closing of the pit mining activity. Gizzard zinc and lead demonstrated significant among year variation; however, maximum concentrations did not correlate to mining activity. The archived gizzard contents did provide a useful tool for documenting trends in metal depositional patterns related to an anthropogenic activity. Further, blue grouse ingesting grit particles during the time of active mining activity would have been exposed to toxicologically significant levels of cadmium. Gizzard lead concentrations were also of toxicological significance but not related to mining activity. This type of "pulse" toxic metal exposure as a consequence of open-pit mining activity would not necessarily have been revealed through a "snap-shot" of soil, plant or avian tissue trace metal analysis post-mining activity. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interfacial pattern changes of imprinted multilayered material in milli- and microscales

Science.gov (United States)

Yonekura, Kazuhiro; Tokumaru, Kazuki; Tsumori, Fujio

2018-06-01

Nanoimprint lithography (NIL) is a technique that transfers a mold pattern of nanometer order to the surface of a resist material by heating and pressing. NIL is an excellent technology in terms of high productivity, accuracy, and resolution. Recently, NIL has been applied to the processing of different multilayered materials, in which it is possible to process multiple materials simultaneously. In this processing of multilayered materials, it is possible to form an interfacial pattern between the upper layer and the lower layer simultaneously with patterning on the mold surface. This interface pattern can be controlled by the deformation characteristics, initial thickness, and so forth. In this research, we compared the interfacial pattern changes of imprinted multilayered materials in milli- and microscales. For multilayered imprint using multiple materials, it is important to know the flow of the resist and its dependence on the scale. If there is similarity in the relationship produced by the scale on the imprinted samples, a process design with a number of feedbacks could be realized. It also becomes easier to treat structures in the millimeter scale for the experiment. In this study, we employed micropowder imprint (µPI) for multilayered material imprint. A compound sheet of alumina powder and polymer binder was used for imprint. Two similar experiments in different scales, micro- and millimeter scales, were carried out. Results indicate that the interfacial patterns of micro- and millimeter-scale-imprinted samples are similar.

Revealing the Driving Forces of Mid-Cities Urban Growth Patterns Using Spatial Modeling: a Case Study of Los Ángeles, Chile

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Mauricio I. Aguayo

2007-06-01

Full Text Available City growth and changes in land-use patterns cause various important social and environmental impacts. To understand the spatial and temporal dynamics of these processes, the factors that drive urban development must be identified and analyzed, especially those factors that can be used to predict future changes and their potential environmental effects. Our objectives were to quantify the relationship between urban growth and its driving forces and to predict the spatial growth pattern based on historical land-use changes for the city of Los Ángeles in central Chile. This involved the analysis of images from 1978, 1992, and 1998 and characterization of the spatial pattern of land-use change; the construction of digital coverage in GIS; the selection of predictive variables through univariate analysis; the construction of logistic regression models using growth vs. nongrowth for 1978-1992 as the dependent variable; and the prediction of the probability of land-use change by applying the regression model to the 1992-1998 period. To investigate the influence of spatial scale, we constructed several sets of models that contained (1 only distance variables, e.g., distance to highways; (2 only scale-dependent density variables, e.g., density of urban area within a 600-m radius; (3 both distance and density variables; and (4 both distance and density variables at several spatial scales. The environmental variables were included in all models. The combination of distance and density variables at several scales is required to appropriately capture the multiscale urban growth process. The best models correctly predict ~90% of the observed land-use changes for 1992-1998. The distance to access roads, densities of the urban road system and urbanized area at various scales, and soil type were the strongest predictors of the growth pattern. Other variables were less important or not significant in explaining the urban growth process. Our approach, which

A Scalable Permutation Approach Reveals Replication and Preservation Patterns of Network Modules in Large Datasets.

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Ritchie, Scott C; Watts, Stephen; Fearnley, Liam G; Holt, Kathryn E; Abraham, Gad; Inouye, Michael

2016-07-01

Network modules-topologically distinct groups of edges and nodes-that are preserved across datasets can reveal common features of organisms, tissues, cell types, and molecules. Many statistics to identify such modules have been developed, but testing their significance requires heuristics. Here, we demonstrate that current methods for assessing module preservation are systematically biased and produce skewed p values. We introduce NetRep, a rapid and computationally efficient method that uses a permutation approach to score module preservation without assuming data are normally distributed. NetRep produces unbiased p values and can distinguish between true and false positives during multiple hypothesis testing. We use NetRep to quantify preservation of gene coexpression modules across murine brain, liver, adipose, and muscle tissues. Complex patterns of multi-tissue preservation were revealed, including a liver-derived housekeeping module that displayed adipose- and muscle-specific association with body weight. Finally, we demonstrate the broader applicability of NetRep by quantifying preservation of bacterial networks in gut microbiota between men and women. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Intra-individual gait patterns across different time-scales as revealed by means of a supervised learning model using kernel-based discriminant regression.

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Fabian Horst

Full Text Available Traditionally, gait analysis has been centered on the idea of average behavior and normality. On one hand, clinical diagnoses and therapeutic interventions typically assume that average gait patterns remain constant over time. On the other hand, it is well known that all our movements are accompanied by a certain amount of variability, which does not allow us to make two identical steps. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the intra-individual gait patterns across different time-scales (i.e., tens-of-mins, tens-of-hours.Nine healthy subjects performed 15 gait trials at a self-selected speed on 6 sessions within one day (duration between two subsequent sessions from 10 to 90 mins. For each trial, time-continuous ground reaction forces and lower body joint angles were measured. A supervised learning model using a kernel-based discriminant regression was applied for classifying sessions within individual gait patterns.Discernable characteristics of intra-individual gait patterns could be distinguished between repeated sessions by classification rates of 67.8 ± 8.8% and 86.3 ± 7.9% for the six-session-classification of ground reaction forces and lower body joint angles, respectively. Furthermore, the one-on-one-classification showed that increasing classification rates go along with increasing time durations between two sessions and indicate that changes of gait patterns appear at different time-scales.Discernable characteristics between repeated sessions indicate continuous intrinsic changes in intra-individual gait patterns and suggest a predominant role of deterministic processes in human motor control and learning. Natural changes of gait patterns without any externally induced injury or intervention may reflect continuous adaptations of the motor system over several time-scales. Accordingly, the modelling of walking by means of average gait patterns that are assumed to be near constant over time needs to be reconsidered in the

Intra-individual gait patterns across different time-scales as revealed by means of a supervised learning model using kernel-based discriminant regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Horst, Fabian; Eekhoff, Alexander; Newell, Karl M; Schöllhorn, Wolfgang I

2017-01-01

Traditionally, gait analysis has been centered on the idea of average behavior and normality. On one hand, clinical diagnoses and therapeutic interventions typically assume that average gait patterns remain constant over time. On the other hand, it is well known that all our movements are accompanied by a certain amount of variability, which does not allow us to make two identical steps. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the intra-individual gait patterns across different time-scales (i.e., tens-of-mins, tens-of-hours). Nine healthy subjects performed 15 gait trials at a self-selected speed on 6 sessions within one day (duration between two subsequent sessions from 10 to 90 mins). For each trial, time-continuous ground reaction forces and lower body joint angles were measured. A supervised learning model using a kernel-based discriminant regression was applied for classifying sessions within individual gait patterns. Discernable characteristics of intra-individual gait patterns could be distinguished between repeated sessions by classification rates of 67.8 ± 8.8% and 86.3 ± 7.9% for the six-session-classification of ground reaction forces and lower body joint angles, respectively. Furthermore, the one-on-one-classification showed that increasing classification rates go along with increasing time durations between two sessions and indicate that changes of gait patterns appear at different time-scales. Discernable characteristics between repeated sessions indicate continuous intrinsic changes in intra-individual gait patterns and suggest a predominant role of deterministic processes in human motor control and learning. Natural changes of gait patterns without any externally induced injury or intervention may reflect continuous adaptations of the motor system over several time-scales. Accordingly, the modelling of walking by means of average gait patterns that are assumed to be near constant over time needs to be reconsidered in the context of

Photoinduced Domain Pattern Transformation in Ferroelectric-Dielectric Superlattices

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Ahn, Youngjun; Park, Joonkyu; Pateras, Anastasios; Rich, Matthew B.; Zhang, Qingteng; Chen, Pice; Yusuf, Mohammed H.; Wen, Haidan; Dawber, Matthew; Evans, Paul G.

2017-07-01

The nanodomain pattern in ferroelectric/dielectric superlattices transforms to a uniform polarization state under above-bandgap optical excitation. X-ray scattering reveals a disappearance of domain diffuse scattering and an expansion of the lattice. The reappearance of the domain pattern occurs over a period of seconds at room temperature, suggesting a transformation mechanism in which charge carriers in long-lived trap states screen the depolarization field. A Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire model predicts changes in lattice parameter and a critical carrier concentration for the transformation.

Repeated Structural Imaging Reveals Nonlinear Progression of Experience-Dependent Volume Changes in Human Motor Cortex.

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Wenger, Elisabeth; Kühn, Simone; Verrel, Julius; Mårtensson, Johan; Bodammer, Nils Christian; Lindenberger, Ulman; Lövdén, Martin

2017-05-01

Evidence for experience-dependent structural brain change in adult humans is accumulating. However, its time course is not well understood, as intervention studies typically consist of only 2 imaging sessions (before vs. after training). We acquired up to 18 structural magnetic resonance images over a 7-week period while 15 right-handed participants practiced left-hand writing and drawing. After 4 weeks, we observed increases in gray matter of both left and right primary motor cortices relative to a control group; 3 weeks later, these differences were no longer reliable. Time-series analyses revealed that gray matter in the primary motor cortices expanded during the first 4 weeks and then partially renormalized, in particular in the right hemisphere, despite continued practice and increasing task proficiency. Similar patterns of expansion followed by partial renormalization are also found in synaptogenesis, cortical map plasticity, and maturation, and may qualify as a general principle of structural plasticity. Research on human brain plasticity needs to encompass more than 2 measurement occasions to capture expansion and potential renormalization processes over time. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Patterns of hybrid loss of imprinting reveal tissue- and cluster-specific regulation.

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Christopher D Wiley

Full Text Available Crosses between natural populations of two species of deer mice, Peromyscus maniculatus (BW, and P. polionotus (PO, produce parent-of-origin effects on growth and development. BW females mated to PO males (bwxpo produce growth-retarded but otherwise healthy offspring. In contrast, PO females mated to BW males (POxBW produce overgrown and severely defective offspring. The hybrid phenotypes are pronounced in the placenta and include POxBW conceptuses which lack embryonic structures. Evidence to date links variation in control of genomic imprinting with the hybrid defects, particularly in the POxBW offspring. Establishment of genomic imprinting is typically mediated by gametic DNA methylation at sites known as gDMRs. However, imprinted gene clusters vary in their regulation by gDMR sequences.Here we further assess imprinted gene expression and DNA methylation at different cluster types in order to discern patterns. These data reveal POxBW misexpression at the Kcnq1ot1 and Peg3 clusters, both of which lose ICR methylation in placental tissues. In contrast, some embryonic transcripts (Peg10, Kcnq1ot1 reactivated the silenced allele with little or no loss of DNA methylation. Hybrid brains also display different patterns of imprinting perturbations. Several cluster pairs thought to use analogous regulatory mechanisms are differentially affected in the hybrids.These data reinforce the hypothesis that placental and somatic gene regulation differs significantly, as does that between imprinted gene clusters and between species. That such epigenetic regulatory variation exists in recently diverged species suggests a role in reproductive isolation, and that this variation is likely to be adaptive.

Two Antarctic penguin genomes reveal insights into their evolutionary history and molecular changes related to the Antarctic environment.

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Li, Cai; Zhang, Yong; Li, Jianwen; Kong, Lesheng; Hu, Haofu; Pan, Hailin; Xu, Luohao; Deng, Yuan; Li, Qiye; Jin, Lijun; Yu, Hao; Chen, Yan; Liu, Binghang; Yang, Linfeng; Liu, Shiping; Zhang, Yan; Lang, Yongshan; Xia, Jinquan; He, Weiming; Shi, Qiong; Subramanian, Sankar; Millar, Craig D; Meader, Stephen; Rands, Chris M; Fujita, Matthew K; Greenwold, Matthew J; Castoe, Todd A; Pollock, David D; Gu, Wanjun; Nam, Kiwoong; Ellegren, Hans; Ho, Simon Yw; Burt, David W; Ponting, Chris P; Jarvis, Erich D; Gilbert, M Thomas P; Yang, Huanming; Wang, Jian; Lambert, David M; Wang, Jun; Zhang, Guojie

2014-01-01

Penguins are flightless aquatic birds widely distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. The distinctive morphological and physiological features of penguins allow them to live an aquatic life, and some of them have successfully adapted to the hostile environments in Antarctica. To study the phylogenetic and population history of penguins and the molecular basis of their adaptations to Antarctica, we sequenced the genomes of the two Antarctic dwelling penguin species, the Adélie penguin [Pygoscelis adeliae] and emperor penguin [Aptenodytes forsteri]. Phylogenetic dating suggests that early penguins arose ~60 million years ago, coinciding with a period of global warming. Analysis of effective population sizes reveals that the two penguin species experienced population expansions from ~1 million years ago to ~100 thousand years ago, but responded differently to the climatic cooling of the last glacial period. Comparative genomic analyses with other available avian genomes identified molecular changes in genes related to epidermal structure, phototransduction, lipid metabolism, and forelimb morphology. Our sequencing and initial analyses of the first two penguin genomes provide insights into the timing of penguin origin, fluctuations in effective population sizes of the two penguin species over the past 10 million years, and the potential associations between these biological patterns and global climate change. The molecular changes compared with other avian genomes reflect both shared and diverse adaptations of the two penguin species to the Antarctic environment.

Label-free proteome profiling reveals developmental-dependent patterns in young barley grains.

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Kaspar-Schoenefeld, Stephanie; Merx, Kathleen; Jozefowicz, Anna Maria; Hartmann, Anja; Seiffert, Udo; Weschke, Winfriede; Matros, Andrea; Mock, Hans-Peter

2016-06-30

Due to its importance as a cereal crop worldwide, high interest in the determination of factors influencing barley grain quality exists. This study focusses on the elucidation of protein networks affecting early grain developmental processes. NanoLC-based separation coupled to label-free MS detection was applied to gain insights into biochemical processes during five different grain developmental phases (pre-storage until storage phase, 3days to 16days after flowering). Multivariate statistics revealed two distinct developmental patterns during the analysed grain developmental phases: proteins showed either highest abundance in the middle phase of development - in the transition phase - or at later developmental stages - within the storage phase. Verification of developmental patterns observed by proteomic analysis was done by applying hypothesis-driven approaches, namely Western Blot analysis and enzyme assays. High general metabolic activity of the grain with regard to protein synthesis, cell cycle regulation, defence against oxidative stress, and energy production via photosynthesis was observed in the transition phase. Proteins upregulated in the storage phase are related towards storage protein accumulation, and interestingly to the defence of storage reserves against pathogens. A mixed regulatory pattern for most enzymes detected in our study points to regulatory mechanisms at the level of protein isoforms. In-depth understanding of early grain developmental processes of cereal caryopses is of high importance as they influence final grain weight and quality. Our knowledge about these processes is still limited, especially on proteome level. To identify key mechanisms in early barley grain development, a label-free data-independent proteomics acquisition approach has been applied. Our data clearly show, that proteins either exhibit highest expression during cellularization and the switch to the storage phase (transition phase, 5-7 DAF), or during storage

Violence-related content in video game may lead to functional connectivity changes in brain networks as revealed by fMRI-ICA in young men.

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Zvyagintsev, M; Klasen, M; Weber, R; Sarkheil, P; Esposito, F; Mathiak, K A; Schwenzer, M; Mathiak, K

2016-04-21

In violent video games, players engage in virtual aggressive behaviors. Exposure to virtual aggressive behavior induces short-term changes in players' behavior. In a previous study, a violence-related version of the racing game "Carmageddon TDR2000" increased aggressive affects, cognitions, and behaviors compared to its non-violence-related version. This study investigates the differences in neural network activity during the playing of both versions of the video game. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) recorded ongoing brain activity of 18 young men playing the violence-related and the non-violence-related version of the video game Carmageddon. Image time series were decomposed into functional connectivity (FC) patterns using independent component analysis (ICA) and template-matching yielded a mapping to established functional brain networks. The FC patterns revealed a decrease in connectivity within 6 brain networks during the violence-related compared to the non-violence-related condition: three sensory-motor networks, the reward network, the default mode network (DMN), and the right-lateralized frontoparietal network. Playing violent racing games may change functional brain connectivity, in particular and even after controlling for event frequency, in the reward network and the DMN. These changes may underlie the short-term increase of aggressive affects, cognitions, and behaviors as observed after playing violent video games. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Global pattern of trends in streamflow and water availability in a changing climate.

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Milly, P C D; Dunne, K A; Vecchia, A V

2005-11-17

Water availability on the continents is important for human health, economic activity, ecosystem function and geophysical processes. Because the saturation vapour pressure of water in air is highly sensitive to temperature, perturbations in the global water cycle are expected to accompany climate warming. Regional patterns of warming-induced changes in surface hydroclimate are complex and less certain than those in temperature, however, with both regional increases and decreases expected in precipitation and runoff. Here we show that an ensemble of 12 climate models exhibits qualitative and statistically significant skill in simulating observed regional patterns of twentieth-century multidecadal changes in streamflow. These models project 10-40% increases in runoff in eastern equatorial Africa, the La Plata basin and high-latitude North America and Eurasia, and 10-30% decreases in runoff in southern Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East and mid-latitude western North America by the year 2050. Such changes in sustainable water availability would have considerable regional-scale consequences for economies as well as ecosystems.

Trade pattern change impact on industrial CO2 emissions in Taiwan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu, Jung-Hua; Huang, Yun-Hsun; Chen, Yen-Yin

2007-01-01

Input-output structural decomposition analysis (I-O SDA) is applied in this paper to analyze the sources of change in industrial CO 2 emissions in Taiwan from 1989 to 2001. Owing to the fact that Taiwan is an export-oriented, trade-dependent economy, the focus is on trade transformation over the past decade and its effect over industrial CO 2 emissions. Change in trade patterns has significantly impacted many aspects of the Taiwan economy, subsequently resulting in various influences on industrial CO 2 emissions, as shown by empirical analysis results. Change in export level increased industrial CO 2 emissions, above all other effects, by 72.1%. However, changes in export mix and import coefficients imposed effects of dragging down industrial CO 2 emissions by 5.7% and 11.7%, respectively. (author)

The Amazon hydrometeorology: Climatology, variability and links to changes in weather patterns

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Fernandes, Katia De Avila

My thesis focuses on improving the quantification of the hydrological cycle and understanding the atmospheric processes that link weather to climate in the Amazon River basin. By using ERA40 and independent observations, I assess how well we can estimate the surface water budget in the Amazon River basin. I find that ERA40 basin wide annual precipitation (P) overall agrees with observations showing a slight underestimation of 10% in average, whereas runoff (R) is underestimated by a larger margin (˜25%). Observed residual of precipitation and runoff (denoted as P-R) is better estimated by ERA40 P-R than actual ET which includes soil moisture nudging. The causes for said discrepancies were found to partly relate to soil moisture nudging that needs to be applied during the dry season to produce realistic ET and compensate for the low soil moisture recharge during the previous wet season. Insufficient recharge may in part be caused by underestimation of rainfall amount and intensity; moreover the shallow root layer in the model does not represent the deep soil water reservoir characteristic of the Amazonian forest. Whether the hydrological cycle and weather patterns in the Amazon have changed during the past few decades is a highly debatable but central question for detecting climate change in the region. The second part of my thesis focus on the physical links between rainfall changes detected in observations, and changes of synoptic scale systems as represented by ERA40. My results suggest that an observed delayed wet season onset is consistent with a decreasing number of cold air incursion (CAI) days in southern Amazon for the period 1979--2001. The variability of CAI into southern Amazon is related to the variability of SST upstream of South America in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans. A Singular Value Decomposition Analysis (SVD) between CAI days and global SST reveal three main modes of co-variability. The first mode describes the effect of the El Nino

Morphological changes of Paulownia seedlings infected phytoplasmas reveal the genes associated with witches' broom through AFLP and MSAP.

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Xibing Cao

Full Text Available Paulownia witches' broom (PaWB caused by phytoplasma might result in devastating damage to the growth and wood production of Paulownia. To study the effect of phytoplasma on DNA sequence and to discover the genes related to PaWB occurrence, DNA polymorphisms and DNA methylation levels and patterns in PaWB seedlings, the ones treated with various concentration of methyl methane sulfonate (MMS and healthy seedlings were investigated with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP and methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism (MSAP. Our results indicated that PaWB seedlings recovered a normal morphology, similar to healthy seedlings, after treatment with more than 20 mg · L-1 MMS; Phytoplasma infection did not change the Paulownia genomic DNA sequence at AFLP level, but changed the global DNA methylation levels and patterns; Genes related to PaWB were discovered through MSAP and validated using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR. These results implied that changes of DNA methylation levels and patterns were closely related to the morphological changes of seedlings infected with phytoplasmas.

Short-term changes in running mechanics and foot strike pattern after introduction to minimalistic footwear.

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Willson, John D; Bjorhus, Jordan S; Williams, D S Blaise; Butler, Robert J; Porcari, John P; Kernozek, Thomas W

2014-01-01

Minimalistic footwear has garnered widespread interest in the running community, based largely on the premise that the footwear may reduce certain running-related injury risk factors through adaptations in running mechanics and foot strike pattern. To examine short-term adaptations in running mechanics among runners who typically run in conventional cushioned heel running shoes as they transition to minimalistic footwear. A 2-week, prospective, observational study. A movement science laboratory. Nineteen female runners with a rear foot strike (RFS) pattern who usually train in conventional running shoes. The participants trained for 20 minutes, 3 times per week for 2 weeks by using minimalistic footwear. Three-dimensional lower extremity running mechanics were analyzed before and after this 2-week period. Hip, knee, and ankle joint kinematics at initial contact; step length; stance time; peak ankle joint moment and joint work; impact peak; vertical ground reaction force loading rate; and foot strike pattern preference were evaluated before and after the intervention. The knee flexion angle at initial contact increased 3.8° (P < .01), but the ankle and hip flexion angles at initial contact did not change after training. No changes in ankle joint kinetics or running temporospatial parameters were observed. The majority of participants (71%), before the intervention, demonstrated an RFS pattern while running in minimalistic footwear. The proportion of runners with an RFS pattern did not decrease after 2 weeks (P = .25). Those runners who chose an RFS pattern in minimalistic shoes experienced a vertical loading rate that was 3 times greater than those who chose to run with a non-RFS pattern. Few systematic changes in running mechanics were observed among participants after 2 weeks of training in minimalistic footwear. The majority of the participants continued to use an RFS pattern after training in minimalistic footwear, and these participants experienced higher

Sensitivity of peak flow to the change of rainfall temporal pattern due to warmer climate

Science.gov (United States)

Fadhel, Sherien; Rico-Ramirez, Miguel Angel; Han, Dawei

2018-05-01

The widely used design storms in urban drainage networks has different drawbacks. One of them is that the shape of the rainfall temporal pattern is fixed regardless of climate change. However, previous studies have shown that the temporal pattern may scale with temperature due to climate change, which consequently affects peak flow. Thus, in addition to the scaling of the rainfall volume, the scaling relationship for the rainfall temporal pattern with temperature needs to be investigated by deriving the scaling values for each fraction within storm events, which is lacking in many parts of the world including the UK. Therefore, this study analysed rainfall data from 28 gauges close to the study area with a 15-min resolution as well as the daily temperature data. It was found that, at warmer temperatures, the rainfall temporal pattern becomes less uniform, with more intensive peak rainfall during higher intensive times and weaker rainfall during less intensive times. This is the case for storms with and without seasonal separations. In addition, the scaling values for both the rainfall volume and the rainfall fractions (i.e. each segment of rainfall temporal pattern) for the summer season were found to be higher than the corresponding results for the winter season. Applying the derived scaling values for the temporal pattern of the summer season in a hydrodynamic sewer network model produced high percentage change of peak flow between the current and future climate. This study on the scaling of rainfall fractions is the first in the UK, and its findings are of importance to modellers and designers of sewer systems because it can provide more robust scenarios for flooding mitigation in urban areas.

The oil industry in Latin America: changing demand patterns and deregulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thaler, Harald.

1997-02-01

The Oil Industry in Latin America: changing demand patterns and deregulation analyses the common problems faced by countries in the region in modernising and developing their oil sectors, despite the great variation in domestic natural resources between them. It highlights areas of potential, as well as clearly indicating risks and possible bureaucratic and political problems. (author)

Senescence-Associated Changes in Proteome and O-GlcNAcylation Pattern in Human Peritoneal Mesothelial Cells

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Rebecca Herzog

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Senescence of peritoneal mesothelial cells represents a biological program defined by arrested cell growth and altered cell secretory phenotype with potential impact in peritoneal dialysis. This study aims to characterize cellular senescence at the level of global protein expression profiles and modification of proteins with O-linked N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAcylation. Methods. A comparative proteomics analysis between young and senescent human peritoneal mesothelial cells (HPMC was performed using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. O-GlcNAc status was assessed by Western blot under normal conditions and after modulation with 6-diazo-5-oxo-L-norleucine (DON to decrease O-GlcNAcylation or O-(2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucopyranosylidene amino N-phenyl carbamate (PUGNAc to increase O-GlcNAcylation. Results. Comparison of protein pattern of senescent and young HPMC revealed 29 differentially abundant protein spots, 11 of which were identified to be actin (cytoplasmic 1 and 2, cytokeratin-7, cofilin-2, transgelin-2, Hsp60, Hsc70, proteasome β-subunits (type-2 and type-3, nucleoside diphosphate kinase A, and cytosolic 5′(3′-deoxyribonucleotidase. Although the global level of O-GlcNAcylation was comparable, senescent cells were not sensitive to modulation by PUGNAc. Discussion. This study identified changes of the proteome and altered dynamics of O-GlcNAc regulation in senescent mesothelial cells. Whereas changes in cytoskeleton-associated proteins likely reflect altered cell morphology, changes in chaperoning and housekeeping proteins may have functional impact on cellular stress response in peritoneal dialysis.

Longitudinal Patterns of Change in Systolic Blood Pressure and Incidence of Cardiovascular Disease: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Petruski-Ivleva, Natalia; Viera, Anthony J; Shimbo, Daichi; Muntner, Paul; Avery, Christy L; Schneider, Andrea L C; Couper, David; Kucharska-Newton, Anna

2016-06-01

Elevated blood pressure in midlife contributes significantly to the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, patterns of blood pressure increase may differ among individuals and may result in differential risk. Our goal was to examine the contribution of longitudinal patterns of blood pressure change to incidence of heart failure, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cardiovascular disease mortality. Latent class growth models were used to identify patterns of change in blood pressure across 4 clinical examinations (1987-1998) among 9845 Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) cohort participants (mean age, 53.7 [SD 5.7] years). Patterns of change in systolic blood pressure included slowly and steeply increasing, a decreasing and a sustained elevated blood pressure. Changes in diastolic and mid-blood pressure (½ systolic+½ diastolic) were less pronounced. The association of blood pressure pattern group membership with incidence of clinical outcomes was examined in follow-up from the fourth clinical examination (1996-1998) to December 31, 2011, using Poisson regression models adjusted for demographic and metabolic characteristics, and hypertension medication use. A gradient of rates of all events was observed across the identified patterns. Associations were attenuated after adjustment for covariates. Cumulative systolic blood pressure load, rather than the temporal pattern of change in systolic blood pressure itself, plays a role in determining the risk of cardiovascular disease, in particular, of heart failure and cardiovascular disease mortality, independent of blood pressure level measured at one point in time. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

Increase in flood risk resulting from climate change in a developed urban watershed – the role of storm temporal patterns

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S. Hettiarachchi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The effects of climate change are causing more frequent extreme rainfall events and an increased risk of flooding in developed areas. Quantifying this increased risk is of critical importance for the protection of life and property as well as for infrastructure planning and design. The updated National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA Atlas 14 intensity–duration–frequency (IDF relationships and temporal patterns are widely used in hydrologic and hydraulic modeling for design and planning in the United States. Current literature shows that rising temperatures as a result of climate change will result in an intensification of rainfall. These impacts are not explicitly included in the NOAA temporal patterns, which can have consequences on the design and planning of adaptation and flood mitigation measures. In addition there is a lack of detailed hydraulic modeling when assessing climate change impacts on flooding. The study presented in this paper uses a comprehensive hydrologic and hydraulic model of a fully developed urban/suburban catchment to explore two primary questions related to climate change impacts on flood risk. (1 How do climate change effects on storm temporal patterns and rainfall volumes impact flooding in a developed complex watershed? (2 Is the storm temporal pattern as critical as the total volume of rainfall when evaluating urban flood risk? We use the NOAA Atlas 14 temporal patterns, along with the expected increase in temperature for the RCP8.5 scenario for 2081–2100, to project temporal patterns and rainfall volumes to reflect future climatic change. The model results show that different rainfall patterns cause variability in flood depths during a storm event. The changes in the projected temporal patterns alone increase the risk of flood magnitude up to 35 %, with the cumulative impacts of temperature rise on temporal patterns and the storm volume increasing flood risk from 10 to 170 %. The results

Rotation and scale change invariant point pattern relaxation matching by the Hopfield neural network

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Sang, Nong; Zhang, Tianxu

1997-12-01

Relaxation matching is one of the most relevant methods for image matching. The original relaxation matching technique using point patterns is sensitive to rotations and scale changes. We improve the original point pattern relaxation matching technique to be invariant to rotations and scale changes. A method that makes the Hopfield neural network perform this matching process is discussed. An advantage of this is that the relaxation matching process can be performed in real time with the neural network's massively parallel capability to process information. Experimental results with large simulated images demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the method to perform point patten relaxation matching invariant to rotations and scale changes and the method to perform this matching by the Hopfield neural network. In addition, we show that the method presented can be tolerant to small random error.

Contrasting patterns of evolutionary constraint and novelty revealed by comparative sperm proteomic analysis in Lepidoptera.

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Whittington, Emma; Forsythe, Desiree; Borziak, Kirill; Karr, Timothy L; Walters, James R; Dorus, Steve

2017-12-02

Rapid evolution is a hallmark of reproductive genetic systems and arises through the combined processes of sequence divergence, gene gain and loss, and changes in gene and protein expression. While studies aiming to disentangle the molecular ramifications of these processes are progressing, we still know little about the genetic basis of evolutionary transitions in reproductive systems. Here we conduct the first comparative analysis of sperm proteomes in Lepidoptera, a group that exhibits dichotomous spermatogenesis, in which males produce a functional fertilization-competent sperm (eupyrene) and an incompetent sperm morph lacking nuclear DNA (apyrene). Through the integrated application of evolutionary proteomics and genomics, we characterize the genomic patterns potentially associated with the origination and evolution of this unique spermatogenic process and assess the importance of genetic novelty in Lepidopteran sperm biology. Comparison of the newly characterized Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) sperm proteome to those of the Carolina sphinx moth (Manduca sexta) and the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) demonstrated conservation at the level of protein abundance and post-translational modification within Lepidoptera. In contrast, comparative genomic analyses across insects reveals significant divergence at two levels that differentiate the genetic architecture of sperm in Lepidoptera from other insects. First, a significant reduction in orthology among Monarch sperm genes relative to the remainder of the genome in non-Lepidopteran insect species was observed. Second, a substantial number of sperm proteins were found to be specific to Lepidoptera, in that they lack detectable homology to the genomes of more distantly related insects. Lastly, the functional importance of Lepidoptera specific sperm proteins is broadly supported by their increased abundance relative to proteins conserved across insects. Our results identify a burst of genetic novelty

Development of passive and active microprism arrays to change the radiation pattern of solid-state lighting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chih-Chun; Ting, Yi-Shuo; Fang, Weileun

2012-01-01

This study implements a compact solid-state lighting chip with changeable illumination map as well as radiation pattern. The lighting chip consists of a microprism array, light-emitting diode (LED) chip and Si carrier. The polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) layers are respectively employed to implement the passive and active microprism arrays. The specific radiation pattern can be defined by the shape of the passive PDMS-microprism. Moreover, by using the scattering and transmitting modes of the PDLC layer, the PDLC-microprism enables the changing of light shaping by applying voltage. Thus, the radiation pattern can be changed by the driving voltage on the PDLC layer, and the deformable and movable micro optical components are not required. This study has established the low-temperature fabrication and packaging processes to realize the lighting chip, and the damage of the PDMS and PDLC material is prevented. Typical dimensions of the PDMS lighting chip are 5 mm wide, 6 mm long and 1 mm thick, and The PDLC lighting chip is 550 µm thick. The measurement results show that the PDMS-microprism array can change the radiation pattern from a 70° half-maximum viewing angle to 52° and 40° half-maximum viewing angles on two orthogonal axes. In addition, the PDLC-microprism array can change the radiation pattern from 51° and 43° half-maximum viewing angles at 0 V (i.e. scattering mode) to 48° and 33° half-maximum viewing angles at 100 V (i.e. transmitting mode). (paper)

Shorebird Migration Patterns in Response to Climate Change: A Modeling Approach

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Smith, James A.

2010-01-01

The availability of satellite remote sensing observations at multiple spatial and temporal scales, coupled with advances in climate modeling and information technologies offer new opportunities for the application of mechanistic models to predict how continental scale bird migration patterns may change in response to environmental change. In earlier studies, we explored the phenotypic plasticity of a migratory population of Pectoral sandpipers by simulating the movement patterns of an ensemble of 10,000 individual birds in response to changes in stopover locations as an indicator of the impacts of wetland loss and inter-annual variability on the fitness of migratory shorebirds. We used an individual based, biophysical migration model, driven by remotely sensed land surface data, climate data, and biological field data. Mean stop-over durations and stop-over frequency with latitude predicted from our model for nominal cases were consistent with results reported in the literature and available field data. In this study, we take advantage of new computing capabilities enabled by recent GP-GPU computing paradigms and commodity hardware (general purchase computing on graphics processing units). Several aspects of our individual based (agent modeling) approach lend themselves well to GP-GPU computing. We have been able to allocate compute-intensive tasks to the graphics processing units, and now simulate ensembles of 400,000 birds at varying spatial resolutions along the central North American flyway. We are incorporating additional, species specific, mechanistic processes to better reflect the processes underlying bird phenotypic plasticity responses to different climate change scenarios in the central U.S.

Recent changes in continentality and aridity conditions over the Middle East and North Africa region, and their association with circulation patterns

KAUST Repository

El Kenawy, Ahmed M.

2016-05-30

A long-term (1960-2013) assessment of the variability of continentality and aridity conditions over the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was undertaken. Monthly gridded temperature and precipitation data from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) (TS3.22 version) were used to compute the Johansson Continentality Index (JCI) and the Marsz Oceanity Index (MOI). In addition, the De Martonne index and the Pinna index were employed to assess recent changes in aridity conditions. All indices revealed a statistically significant increase in continental influences over the region, particularly in the Nile Basin and the Fertile Crescent. For aridity, the results suggested a generally statistically insignificant increase, with the most rapid changes occurring over the most humid regions (i.e. the Ethiopian Highlands and the Fertile Crescent). In order to explain the observed changes in the continentality and aridity conditions, we assessed the relationship between aridity and continentality indices and a wide range of large-scale circulation patterns. Results indicate that the spatial variability of continentality (as well as aridity) was closely coupled with the Atlantic modes of variability, e.g. the Eastern Atlantic pattern and the Atlantic Meridional Mode, compared to those of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. The results of this work highlight change processes in 2 important climate features in one of the hottest regions on Earth. Improving our understanding of the spatio-temporal characteristics of climate continentality and aridity has implications for a diversity of socio-political, economic, hydrological, and ecological activities in the MENA region.

Recent changes in continentality and aridity conditions over the Middle East and North Africa region, and their association with circulation patterns

KAUST Repository

El Kenawy, Ahmed M.; McCabe, Matthew; Vicente-Serrano, Sergio M.; Robaa, Sayed M.; Lopez-Moreno, Juan I.

2016-01-01

A long-term (1960-2013) assessment of the variability of continentality and aridity conditions over the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was undertaken. Monthly gridded temperature and precipitation data from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) (TS3.22 version) were used to compute the Johansson Continentality Index (JCI) and the Marsz Oceanity Index (MOI). In addition, the De Martonne index and the Pinna index were employed to assess recent changes in aridity conditions. All indices revealed a statistically significant increase in continental influences over the region, particularly in the Nile Basin and the Fertile Crescent. For aridity, the results suggested a generally statistically insignificant increase, with the most rapid changes occurring over the most humid regions (i.e. the Ethiopian Highlands and the Fertile Crescent). In order to explain the observed changes in the continentality and aridity conditions, we assessed the relationship between aridity and continentality indices and a wide range of large-scale circulation patterns. Results indicate that the spatial variability of continentality (as well as aridity) was closely coupled with the Atlantic modes of variability, e.g. the Eastern Atlantic pattern and the Atlantic Meridional Mode, compared to those of the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. The results of this work highlight change processes in 2 important climate features in one of the hottest regions on Earth. Improving our understanding of the spatio-temporal characteristics of climate continentality and aridity has implications for a diversity of socio-political, economic, hydrological, and ecological activities in the MENA region.

The role of local sea surface temperature pattern changes in shaping climate change in the North Atlantic sector

Science.gov (United States)

Hand, Ralf; Keenlyside, Noel S.; Omrani, Nour-Eddine; Bader, Jürgen; Greatbatch, Richard J.

2018-03-01

Beside its global effects, climate change is manifested in many regionally pronounced features mainly resulting from changes in the oceanic and atmospheric circulation. Here we investigate the influence of the North Atlantic SST on shaping the winter-time response to global warming. Our results are based on a long-term climate projection with the Max Planck Institute Earth System Model (MPI-ESM) to investigate the influence of North Atlantic sea surface temperature pattern changes on shaping the atmospheric climate change signal. In sensitivity experiments with the model's atmospheric component we decompose the response into components controlled by the local SST structure and components controlled by global/remote changes. MPI-ESM simulates a global warming response in SST similar to other climate models: there is a warming minimum—or "warming hole"—in the subpolar North Atlantic, and the sharp SST gradients associated with the Gulf Stream and the North Atlantic Current shift northward by a few a degrees. Over the warming hole, global warming causes a relatively weak increase in rainfall. Beyond this, our experiments show more localized effects, likely resulting from future SST gradient changes in the North Atlantic. This includes a significant precipitation decrease to the south of the Gulf Stream despite increased underlying SSTs. Since this region is characterised by a strong band of precipitation in the current climate, this is contrary to the usual case that wet regions become wetter and dry regions become drier in a warmer climate. A moisture budget analysis identifies a complex interplay of various processes in the region of modified SST gradients: reduced surface winds cause a decrease in evaporation; and thermodynamic, modified atmospheric eddy transports, and coastal processes cause a change in the moisture convergence. The changes in the the North Atlantic storm track are mainly controlled by the non-regional changes in the forcing. The impact of

Animal perception of seasonal thresholds: changes in elephant movement in relation to rainfall patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Birkett, Patricia J; Vanak, Abi T; Muggeo, Vito M R; Ferreira, Salamon M; Slotow, Rob

2012-01-01

The identification of temporal thresholds or shifts in animal movement informs ecologists of changes in an animal's behaviour, which contributes to an understanding of species' responses in different environments. In African savannas, rainfall, temperature and primary productivity influence the movements of large herbivores and drive changes at different scales. Here, we developed a novel approach to define seasonal shifts in movement behaviour by examining the movements of a highly mobile herbivore (elephant; Loxodonta africana), in relation to local and regional rainfall patterns. We used speed to determine movement changes of between 8 and 14 GPS-collared elephant cows, grouped into five spatial clusters, in Kruger National Park, South Africa. To detect broad-scale patterns of movement, we ran a three-year daily time-series model for each individual (2007-2009). Piecewise regression models provided the best fit for elephant movement, which exhibited a segmented, waveform pattern over time. Major breakpoints in speed occurred at the end of the dry and wet seasons of each year. During the dry season, female elephant are constrained by limited forage and thus the distances they cover are shorter and less variable. Despite the inter-annual variability of rainfall, speed breakpoints were strongly correlated with both local and regional rainfall breakpoints across all three years. Thus, at a multi-year scale, rainfall patterns significantly affect the movements of elephant. The variability of both speed and rainfall breakpoints across different years highlights the need for an objective definition of seasonal boundaries. By using objective criteria to determine behavioural shifts, we identified a biologically meaningful indicator of major changes in animal behaviour in different years. We recommend the use of such criteria, from an animal's perspective, for delineating seasons or other extrinsic shifts in ecological studies, rather than arbitrarily fixed definitions

Animal perception of seasonal thresholds: changes in elephant movement in relation to rainfall patterns.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia J Birkett

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The identification of temporal thresholds or shifts in animal movement informs ecologists of changes in an animal's behaviour, which contributes to an understanding of species' responses in different environments. In African savannas, rainfall, temperature and primary productivity influence the movements of large herbivores and drive changes at different scales. Here, we developed a novel approach to define seasonal shifts in movement behaviour by examining the movements of a highly mobile herbivore (elephant; Loxodonta africana, in relation to local and regional rainfall patterns. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used speed to determine movement changes of between 8 and 14 GPS-collared elephant cows, grouped into five spatial clusters, in Kruger National Park, South Africa. To detect broad-scale patterns of movement, we ran a three-year daily time-series model for each individual (2007-2009. Piecewise regression models provided the best fit for elephant movement, which exhibited a segmented, waveform pattern over time. Major breakpoints in speed occurred at the end of the dry and wet seasons of each year. During the dry season, female elephant are constrained by limited forage and thus the distances they cover are shorter and less variable. Despite the inter-annual variability of rainfall, speed breakpoints were strongly correlated with both local and regional rainfall breakpoints across all three years. Thus, at a multi-year scale, rainfall patterns significantly affect the movements of elephant. The variability of both speed and rainfall breakpoints across different years highlights the need for an objective definition of seasonal boundaries. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: By using objective criteria to determine behavioural shifts, we identified a biologically meaningful indicator of major changes in animal behaviour in different years. We recommend the use of such criteria, from an animal's perspective, for delineating seasons or

A second life for old data: Global patterns in pollution ecology revealed from published observational studies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kozlov, Mikhail V., E-mail: mikoz@utu.fi [Section of Ecology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku (Finland); Zvereva, Elena L. [Section of Ecology, University of Turku, 20014 Turku (Finland)

2011-05-15

A synthesis of research on the responses of terrestrial biota (1095 effect sizes) to industrial pollution (206 point emission sources) was conducted to reveal regional and global patterns from small-scale observational studies. A meta-analysis, in combination with other statistical methods, showed that the effects of pollution depend on characteristics of the specific polluter (type, amount of emission, duration of impact on biota), the affected organism (trophic group, life history), the level at which the response was measured (organism, population, community), and the environment (biome, climate). In spite of high heterogeneity in responses, we have detected several general patterns. We suggest that the development of evolutionary adaptations to pollution is a common phenomenon and that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms. We argue that community- and ecosystem-level responses to pollution should be explored directly, rather than deduced from organism-level studies. - Research synthesis demonstrated that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms.

A second life for old data: Global patterns in pollution ecology revealed from published observational studies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozlov, Mikhail V.; Zvereva, Elena L.

2011-01-01

A synthesis of research on the responses of terrestrial biota (1095 effect sizes) to industrial pollution (206 point emission sources) was conducted to reveal regional and global patterns from small-scale observational studies. A meta-analysis, in combination with other statistical methods, showed that the effects of pollution depend on characteristics of the specific polluter (type, amount of emission, duration of impact on biota), the affected organism (trophic group, life history), the level at which the response was measured (organism, population, community), and the environment (biome, climate). In spite of high heterogeneity in responses, we have detected several general patterns. We suggest that the development of evolutionary adaptations to pollution is a common phenomenon and that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms. We argue that community- and ecosystem-level responses to pollution should be explored directly, rather than deduced from organism-level studies. - Research synthesis demonstrated that the harmful effects of pollution on terrestrial ecosystems are likely to increase as the climate warms.

Future climate and changes in flow patterns in Czech headwater catchments

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Benčoková, A.; Krám, P.; Hruška, Jakub

2011-01-01

Roč. 49, č. 1 (2011), s. 1-15 ISSN 0936-577X R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) ED1.1.00/02.0073 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z60870520 Keywords : climate change impact * flow pattern * regional climate scenarios * Headwater catchments * hydrological modelling * Broo90 Subject RIV: DA - Hydrology ; Limnology Impact factor: 1.994, year: 2011

Quantifying relief on alluvial fans using airborne lidar to reveal patterns of sediment accumulation

Science.gov (United States)

Morelan, A. E., III; Oskin, M. E.

2017-12-01

We present a method of quantifying detailed surface relief on alluvial fans from high-resolution topography. Average slope and curvature of the fan are used together to empirically derive an idealized, radially symmetric fan surface, from which we compute residual topography. Maps produced using this technique highlight spatial patterns of fan deposition and avulsion. Regions of high residual topography reveal active and abandoned sediment lobes accumulated from recent depositional events, often with well-defined channels at their apex. Preliminary observations suggest that surface relief is uniform across a collection of fans in a given region and source lithology. Alluvial fans with granitic catchment lithologies in eastern California (n=12), each with varying source catchment size and mean fan slope, all show relief of around 4 meters. A collection of fans from the Carrizo Plain in central California (n=12), with source catchments set within Miocene marine and nonmarine sedimentary rocks, show significantly lower relief values around 2 meters. We hypothesize that particle grain size determines this contrasting relief through its control on the thickness of fan-building debris flows. In both settings we find that sediment lobes tend to extend toward the fan toe. This pattern supports a process, observed in analog experiments, of fan deposition dominated by back-filling and overtopping of distributary channels by debris-flows.

Establishing the common patterns of future tropospheric ozone under diverse climate change scenarios

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Jimenez-Guerrero, Pedro; Gómez-Navarro, Juan J.; Jerez, Sonia; Lorente-Plazas, Raquel; Baro, Rocio; Montávez, Juan P.

2013-04-01

The impacts of climate change on air quality may affect long-term air quality planning. However, the policies aimed at improving air quality in the EU directives have not accounted for the variations in the climate. Climate change alone influences future air quality through modifications of gas-phase chemistry, transport, removal, and natural emissions. As such, the aim of this work is to check whether the projected changes in gas-phase air pollution over Europe depends on the scenario driving the regional simulation. For this purpose, two full-transient regional climate change-air quality projections for the first half of the XXI century (1991-2050) have been carried out with MM5+CHIMERE system, including A2 and B2 SRES scenarios. Experiments span the periods 1971-2000, as a reference, and 2071-2100, as future enhanced greenhouse gas and aerosol scenarios (SRES A2 and B2). The atmospheric simulations have a horizontal resolution of 25 km and 23 vertical layers up to 100 mb, and were driven by ECHO-G global climate model outputs. The analysis focuses on the connection between meteorological and air quality variables. Our simulations suggest that the modes of variability for tropospheric ozone and their main precursors hardly change under different SRES scenarios. The effect of changing scenarios has to be sought in the intensity of the changing signal, rather than in the spatial structure of the variation patterns, since the correlation between the spatial patterns of variability in A2 and B2 simulation is r > 0.75 for all gas-phase pollutants included in this study. In both cases, full-transient simulations indicate an enhanced enhanced chemical activity under future scenarios. The causes for tropospheric ozone variations have to be sought in a multiplicity of climate factors, such as increased temperature, different distribution of precipitation patterns across Europe, increased photolysis of primary and secondary pollutants due to lower cloudiness, etc

Circulation pattern-based assessment of projected climate change for a catchment in Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Hoshin V.; Sapriza-Azuri, Gonzalo; Jódar, Jorge; Carrera, Jesús

2018-01-01

We present an approach for evaluating catchment-scale hydro-meteorological impacts of projected climate change based on the atmospheric circulation patterns (ACPs) of a region. Our approach is motivated by the conjecture that GCMs are especially good at simulating the atmospheric circulation patterns that control moisture transport, and which can be expected to change in response to global warming. In support of this, we show (for the late 20th century) that GCMs provide much better simulations of ACPs than those of precipitation amount for the Upper Guadiana Basin in central Spain. For the same period, four of the twenty GCMs participating in the most recent (5th) IPCC Assessment provide quite accurate representations of the spatial patterns of mean sea level pressure, the frequency distribution of ACP type, the 'number of rainy days per month', and the daily 'probability of rain' (they also reproduce the trend of 'wet day amount', though not the actual magnitudes). A consequent analysis of projected trends and changes in hydro-climatic ACPology between the late 20th and 21st Centuries indicates that (1) actual changes appear to be occurring faster than predicted by the models, and (2) for two greenhouse gas emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) the expected decline in precipitation volume is associated mainly with a few specific ACPs (primarily directional flows from the Atlantic Ocean and Cantabric Sea), and with decreasing probability of rain (linked to increasing temperatures) rather than wet day amount. Our approach is a potentially more insightful alternative for catchment-scale climate impacts assessments than the common approach of statistical downscaling and bias correction.

Mapping patterns of change in emotion-focused psychotherapy: Implications for theory, research, practice, and training.

Science.gov (United States)

Watson, Jeanne C

2018-05-01

An important objective in humanistic-experiential psychotherapies and particularly emotion-focused psychotherapy (EFT) is to map patterns of change. Effective mapping of the processes and pathways of change requires that in-session processes be linked to in-session resolutions, immediate post-session changes, intermediate outcome, final therapy outcome, and longer-term change. This is a challenging and long-term endeavour. Fine-grained descriptions of in-session processes that lead to resolution of specific interpersonal and intrapersonal issues linked with longer-term outcomes are the foundation of EFT, the process-experiential approach. In this paper, evidence in support of EFT as a treatment approach will be reviewed along with research on two mechanisms of change, viewed as central to EFT, clients' emotional processing and the therapeutic relationship conditions. The implications for psychotherapy research are discussed. Given the methodological constraints, there is a need for more innovative methodologies and strategies to investigate specific psychotherapy processes within and across different approaches to map patterns and mechanisms of change to enhance theory, research, practice, and training.

Integrated Analysis of Alzheimer's Disease and Schizophrenia Dataset Revealed Different Expression Pattern in Learning and Memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Wen-Xing; Dai, Shao-Xing; Liu, Jia-Qian; Wang, Qian; Li, Gong-Hua; Huang, Jing-Fei

2016-01-01

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia (SZ) are both accompanied by impaired learning and memory functions. This study aims to explore the expression profiles of learning or memory genes between AD and SZ. We downloaded 10 AD and 10 SZ datasets from GEO-NCBI for integrated analysis. These datasets were processed using RMA algorithm and a global renormalization for all studies. Then Empirical Bayes algorithm was used to find the differentially expressed genes between patients and controls. The results showed that most of the differentially expressed genes were related to AD whereas the gene expression profile was little affected in the SZ. Furthermore, in the aspects of the number of differentially expressed genes, the fold change and the brain region, there was a great difference in the expression of learning or memory related genes between AD and SZ. In AD, the CALB1, GABRA5, and TAC1 were significantly downregulated in whole brain, frontal lobe, temporal lobe, and hippocampus. However, in SZ, only two genes CRHBP and CX3CR1 were downregulated in hippocampus, and other brain regions were not affected. The effect of these genes on learning or memory impairment has been widely studied. It was suggested that these genes may play a crucial role in AD or SZ pathogenesis. The different gene expression patterns between AD and SZ on learning and memory functions in different brain regions revealed in our study may help to understand the different mechanism between two diseases.

Global pattern of trends in streamflow and water availability in a changing climate

Science.gov (United States)

Milly, P.C.D.; Dunne, K.A.; Vecchia, A.V.

2005-01-01

Water availability on the continents is important for human health, economic activity, ecosystem function and geophysical processes. Because the saturation vapour pressure of water in air is highly sensitive to temperature, perturbations in the global water cycle are expected to accompany climate warming. Regional patterns of warming-induced changes in surface hydroclimate are complex and less certain than those in temperature, however, with both regional increases and decreases expected in precipitation and runoff. Here we show that an ensemble of 12 climate models exhibits qualitative and statistically significant skill in simulating observed regional patterns of twentieth-century multidecadal changes in streamflow. These models project 10–40% increases in runoff in eastern equatorial Africa, the La Plata basin and high-latitude North America and Eurasia, and 10–30% decreases in runoff in southern Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East and mid-latitude western North America by the year 2050. Such changes in sustainable water availability would have considerable regional-scale consequences for economies as well as ecosystems.

An interspecific fungal hybrid reveals cross-kingdom rules for allopolyploid gene expression patterns.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Murray P Cox

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Polyploidy, a state in which the chromosome complement has undergone an increase, is a major force in evolution. Understanding the consequences of polyploidy has received much attention, and allopolyploids, which result from the union of two different parental genomes, are of particular interest because they must overcome a suite of biological responses to this merger, known as "genome shock." A key question is what happens to gene expression of the two gene copies following allopolyploidization, but until recently the tools to answer this question on a genome-wide basis were lacking. Here we utilize high throughput transcriptome sequencing to produce the first genome-wide picture of gene expression response to allopolyploidy in fungi. A novel pipeline for assigning sequence reads to the gene copies was used to quantify their expression in a fungal allopolyploid. We find that the transcriptional response to allopolyploidy is predominantly conservative: both copies of most genes are retained; over half the genes inherit parental gene expression patterns; and parental differential expression is often lost in the allopolyploid. Strikingly, the patterns of gene expression change are highly concordant with the genome-wide expression results of a cotton allopolyploid. The very different nature of these two allopolyploids implies a conserved, eukaryote-wide transcriptional response to genome merger. We provide evidence that the transcriptional responses we observe are mostly driven by intrinsic differences between the regulatory systems in the parent species, and from this propose a mechanistic model in which the cross-kingdom conservation in transcriptional response reflects conservation of the mutational processes underlying eukaryotic gene regulatory evolution. This work provides a platform to develop a universal understanding of gene expression response to allopolyploidy and suggests that allopolyploids are an exceptional system to investigate gene

Landsat-Based Long-Term Monitoring of Total Suspended Matter Concentration Pattern Change in the Wet Season for Dongting Lake, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhubin Zheng

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Assessing the impacts of environmental change and anthropogenic activities on the historical and current total suspended matter (TSM pattern in Dongting Lake, China, is a large challenge. We addressed this challenge by using more than three decades of Landsat data. Based on in situ measurements, we developed an algorithm based on the near-infrared (NIR band to estimate TSM in Dongting Lake. The algorithm was applied to Landsat images to derive TSM distribution maps from 1978 to 2013 in the wet season, revealing significant inter-annual and spatial variability. The relationship of TSM to water level, precipitation, and wind speed was analyzed, and we found that: (1 sand mining areas usually coincide with regions that have high TSM levels in Dongting Lake; (2 water level and seven-day precipitation were both important to TSM variation, but no significant relationship was found between TSM and wind speed or other meteorological data; (3 the increased level of sand mining in response to rapid economic growth has deeply influenced the TSM pattern since 2000 due to the resuspension of sediment; and (4 TSM variation might be associated with policy changes regarding the management of sand mining; it might also be affected by lower water levels caused by the impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam since 2000.

RS- and GIS-based study on landscape pattern change in the Poyang Lake wetland area, China

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaoling; Li, Hui; Bao, Shuming; Wu, Zhongyi; Fu, Weijuan; Cai, Xiaobin; Zhao, Hongmei; Guo, Peng

2006-10-01

As wetland has been recognized as an important component of ecosystem, it is received ever-increasing attention worldwide. Poyang Lake wetlands, the international wetlands and the largest bird habitat in Asia, play an important role in biodiversity and ecologic protection. However, with the rapid economic growth and urbanization, landscape patterns in the wetlands have dramatically changed in the past three decades. To better understand the wetland landscape dynamics, remote sensing, geographic information system technologies, and the FRAGSTATS landscape analysis program were used to measure landscape patterns. Statistical approach was employed to illustrate the driving forces. In this study, Landsat images (TM and ETM+) from 1989 and 2000 were acquired for the wetland area. The landscapes in the wetland area were classified as agricultural land, urban, wetland, forest, grassland, unused land, and water body using a combination of supervised and unsupervised classification techniques integrated with Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Landscape indices, which are popular for the quantitative analysis of landscape pattern, were then employed to analyze the landscape pattern changes between the two dates in a GIS. From this analysis an understanding of the spatial-temporal patterns of landscape evolution was generated. The results show that wetland area was reduced while fragmentation was increased over the study period. Further investigation was made to examine the relationship between landscape metrics and some other parameters such as urbanization to address the driving forces for those changes. The urban was chosen as center to conduct buffer analysis in a GIS to study the impact of human-induced activities on landscape pattern dynamics. It was found that the selected parameters were significantly correlated with the landscape metrics, which may well indicate the impact of human-induced activities on the wetland landscape pattern dynamics and account for the driving

The relationship of meteorological patterns with changes in floristic richness along a large elevational gradient in a seasonally dry region of southern Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Salas-Morales, Silvia H.; Meave, Jorge A.; Trejo, Irma

2015-12-01

Globally, climate is a fundamental driver of plant species' geographical distributions, yet we still lack a good understanding of climatic variation on tropical mountains and its consequences for elevational floristic patterns. In a seasonally dry region of southern Mexico, we analysed meteorological patterns along a large elevational gradient (0-3670 m a.s.l.) and examined their relationship with changes in floristic richness. Meteorological patterns were characterised using two data sources. First, climatic information was extracted from cartography and records from a few existing meteorological stations. Additionally, air temperature and humidity were recorded hourly during 1 year with data loggers, at sites representing 200-m elevation increments. Floristic information was extracted from a database containing 10,124 records of plant collections, and organized in 200-m elevational belts. Climatic charts distinguished three climate types along the gradient, all with marked rainfall seasonality, but these bore little correspondence with the information obtained with the data loggers. Mean annual air temperature decreased with increasing elevation (lapse rate of 0.542 °C 100 m-1). Thermal oscillation was minimum around 1400 m and increased towards both extremes of the gradient. Relative humidity opposed this pattern, with maxima between 800 and 1800 m, decreasing towards the highest elevations. An analysis of temperature frequency distributions revealed meteorological features undetectable from the annual or monthly means of this variable; despite an overall gradual transition of the proportions of time recorded at different temperatures, some changes did not conform to this pattern. The first discontinuity occurred between 1000-1200 m, where dominant temperatures shifted abruptly; also noticeable was an abrupt increase of the proportion of time elapsed at 0.1-10 °C between 2400 and 2600 m. Air temperature appears to be the most influential climatic factor

Patterns of change: whose fingerprint is seen in global warming?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hegerl, Gabriele; Zwiers, Francis; Tebaldi, Claudia

2011-01-01

Attributing observed climate change to causes is challenging. This letter communicates the physical arguments used in attribution, and the statistical methods applied to explore to what extent different possible causes can be used to explain the recent climate records. The methods use fingerprints of climate change that are identified on the basis of the physics governing our climate system, and through the use of climate model experiments. These fingerprints characterize the geographical and vertical pattern of the expected changes caused by external influences, for example, greenhouse gas increases and changes in solar radiation, taking also into account how these forcings and their effects vary over time. These time–space fingerprints can be used to discriminate between observed climate changes caused by different external factors. Attribution assessments necessarily take the natural variability of the climate system into account as well, evaluating whether an observed change can be explained in terms of this internal variability alone, and estimating the contribution of this source of variability to the observed change. Hence the assessment that a large part of the observed recent warming is anthropogenic is based on a rigorous quantitative analysis of these joint drivers and their effects, and proceeds through a much more comprehensive and layered analysis than a comparison at face value of model simulations with observations.

Changing incidence patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma among age groups in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, Giun-Yi; Horng, Jiun-Lin; Yen, Hsiu-Ju; Lee, Chih-Ying; Lin, Li-Yih

2015-12-01

This study examined and compared the incidence patterns of hepatocellular carcinoma among age groups in Taiwan, 30 years after a universal hepatitis B virus immunization program was launched. Data for hepatocellular carcinoma diagnosed in 2003-2011 were collected from the population-based Taiwan Cancer Registry. Age-standardized incidence rates were calculated to analyze and compare the changes in incidence rates and trends. More specific analyses were performed on four age groups separated by sex. A total of 82,856 patients were diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma in 2003-2011 in Taiwan, yielding an age-standardized incidence rate of 32.97 per 100,000 person-years. Hepatocellular carcinoma was predominantly diagnosed in middle-aged adults (50.1%) and elderly people (49.1%), in contrast to the low incidences in children (0.04%) and adolescents and young adults (0.8%). Striking variations in trends were found for children (annual percent change: -16.6%, 2003-2010) and adolescents and young adults (annual percent change: -7.9%, 2003-2011). The incidence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma in children decreased to zero in 2011; only a slight decline in trends occurred for the middle-aged group (annual percent change: -2%, 2003-2011), and a slight upward trend was observed for elderly people (1.3%), specifically in women (1.7%). In Taiwan, hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma was nearly eradicated in children in 2011. The findings on age-specific incidence patterns and trends of hepatocellular carcinoma suggest that different control strategies for treating this devastating disease in the future be made according to age. Copyright © 2015 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Correlations between human mobility and social interaction reveal general activity patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Mollgaard, Anders; Lehmann, Sune; Mathiesen, Joachim

2017-01-01

A day in the life of a person involves a broad range of activities which are common across many people. Going beyond diurnal cycles, a central question is: to what extent do individuals act according to patterns shared across an entire population? Here we investigate the interplay between different activity types, namely communication, motion, and physical proximity by analyzing data collected from smartphones distributed among 638 individuals. We explore two central questions: Which underlying principles govern the formation of the activity patterns? Are the patterns specific to each individual or shared across the entire population? We find that statistics of the entire population allows us to successfully predict 71% of the activity and 85% of the inactivity involved in communication, mobility, and physical proximity. Surprisingly, individual level statistics only result in marginally better predictions, indicating that a majority of activity patterns are shared across our sample population. Finally, we predict short-term activity patterns using a generalized linear model, which suggests that a simple linear description might be sufficient to explain a wide range of actions, whether they be of social or of physical character.

Reconstructed storm tracks reveal three centuries of changing moisture delivery to North America.

Science.gov (United States)

Wise, Erika K; Dannenberg, Matthew P

2017-06-01

Moisture delivery to western North America is closely linked to variability in the westerly storm tracks of midlatitude cyclones, which are, in turn, modified by larger-scale features such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation system. Instrumental and modeling data suggest that extratropical storm tracks may be intensifying and shifting poleward due to anthropogenic climate change, but it is difficult to separate recent trends from natural variability because of the large amount of decadal and longer variation in storm tracks and their limited instrumental record. We reconstruct cool-season, midlatitude Pacific storm-track position and intensity from 1693 to 1995 CE using existing tree-ring chronologies along with a network of newly developed chronologies from the U.S. Pacific Northwest, where small variations in storm-track position can have a major influence on hydroclimate patterns. Our results show high interannual-to-multidecadal variability in storm-track position and intensity over the past 303 years, with spectral signatures characteristic of tropical and northern Pacific influences. Comparison with reconstructions of precipitation and tropical sea surface temperature confirms the relationship between shifting drought patterns in the Pacific Northwest and storm-track variability through time and demonstrates the long-term influence of El Niño. These results allow us to place recent storm-track changes in the context of decadal and multidecadal fluctuations across the long-term record, showing that recent changes in storm-track intensity likely represent a warming-related increase amplified by natural decadal variability.

Microhabitat and Climatic Niche Change Explain Patterns of Diversification among Frog Families.

Science.gov (United States)

Moen, Daniel S; Wiens, John J

2017-07-01

A major goal of ecology and evolutionary biology is to explain patterns of species richness among clades. Differences in rates of net diversification (speciation minus extinction over time) may often explain these patterns, but the factors that drive variation in diversification rates remain uncertain. Three important candidates are climatic niche position (e.g., whether clades are primarily temperate or tropical), rates of climatic niche change among species within clades, and microhabitat (e.g., aquatic, terrestrial, arboreal). The first two factors have been tested separately in several studies, but the relative importance of all three is largely unknown. Here we explore the correlates of diversification among families of frogs, which collectively represent ∼88% of amphibian species. We assemble and analyze data on phylogeny, climate, and microhabitat for thousands of species. We find that the best-fitting phylogenetic multiple regression model includes all three types of variables: microhabitat, rates of climatic niche change, and climatic niche position. This model explains 67% of the variation in diversification rates among frog families, with arboreal microhabitat explaining ∼31%, niche rates ∼25%, and climatic niche position ∼11%. Surprisingly, we show that microhabitat can have a much stronger influence on diversification than climatic niche position or rates of climatic niche change.

Impulsive sounds change European seabass swimming patterns: Influence of pulse repetition interval

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neo, Y.Y.; Ufkes, E.; Kastelein, R.A.; Winter, H.V.; Cate, C. ten; Slabbekoorn, H.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We exposed impulsive sounds of different repetition intervals to European seabass. • Immediate behavioural changes mirrored previous indoor & outdoor studies. • Repetition intervals influenced the impacts differentially but not the recovery. • Sound temporal patterns may be more important than some standard metrics. - Abstract: Seismic shootings and offshore pile-driving are regularly performed, emitting significant amounts of noise that may negatively affect fish behaviour. The pulse repetition interval (PRI) of these impulsive sounds may vary considerably and influence the behavioural impact and recovery. Here, we tested the effect of four PRIs (0.5–4.0 s) on European seabass swimming patterns in an outdoor basin. At the onset of the sound exposures, the fish swam faster and dived deeper in tighter shoals. PRI affected the immediate and delayed behavioural changes but not the recovery time. Our study highlights that (1) the behavioural changes of captive European seabass were consistent with previous indoor and outdoor studies; (2) PRI could influence behavioural impact differentially, which may have management implications; (3) some acoustic metrics, e.g. SEL cum , may have limited predictive power to assess the strength of behavioural impacts of noise. Noise impact assessments need to consider the contribution of sound temporal structure

Patterns of subnet usage reveal distinct scales of regulation in the transcriptional regulatory network of Escherichia coli.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carsten Marr

Full Text Available The set of regulatory interactions between genes, mediated by transcription factors, forms a species' transcriptional regulatory network (TRN. By comparing this network with measured gene expression data, one can identify functional properties of the TRN and gain general insight into transcriptional control. We define the subnet of a node as the subgraph consisting of all nodes topologically downstream of the node, including itself. Using a large set of microarray expression data of the bacterium Escherichia coli, we find that the gene expression in different subnets exhibits a structured pattern in response to environmental changes and genotypic mutation. Subnets with fewer changes in their expression pattern have a higher fraction of feed-forward loop motifs and a lower fraction of small RNA targets within them. Our study implies that the TRN consists of several scales of regulatory organization: (1 subnets with more varying gene expression controlled by both transcription factors and post-transcriptional RNA regulation and (2 subnets with less varying gene expression having more feed-forward loops and less post-transcriptional RNA regulation.

An Analysis on change of household electricity demand pattern

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Na, In Gang [Korea Energy Economics Institute, Euiwang (Korea)

1999-01-01

The object of this study is to analyze the behavioral pattern change of household electricity demand. Through the cross section analysis using materials from the energy total research report, the change in income elasticity of household electricity demand was studied. In this study, two methodologies were used. Firstly, it was shown that the effect of an income variable was very significant with a positive value in simultaneous equations model using exponential equations of electrical appliances holding. Cross section income effect showed a various distribution according to the season or income level. Overall, it was calculated at 0.111 when the appliances are fixed and 0.432 when even appliances are changed. Secondly, using a choice convenient correction model, it is resulted that lambda, the choice convenient correction factor, has a positive value and is statistically significant. In 1996, income elasticity of electricity demand for households with air-conditioning was 0.305 and for households without air-conditioning was 0.172. Income elasticity of households with air-conditioning is increasing as time goes by while income elasticity of households without air-conditioning is decreasing. (author). 32 refs., 35 tabs.

Detecting changes in riparian habitat conditions based on patterns of greenness change: a case study from the upper San Pedro River Basin, USA

Science.gov (United States)

K. Bruce Jones; Curtis E. Edmonds; E. Terrance Slonecker; James D. Wickham; Anne C. Neale; Timothy G. Wade; Kurt H. Riitters; William G. Kepner

2008-01-01

Healthy riparian ecosystems in arid and semi-arid regions exhibit shifting patterns of vegetation in response to periodic flooding. Their conditions also depend upon the amount of grazing and other human uses. Taking advantage of these system properties, we developed and tested an approach that utilizes historical Landsat data to track changes in the patterns...

Monitoring coal mine changes and their impact on landscape patterns in an alpine region: a case study of the Muli coal mine in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Science.gov (United States)

Qian, Dawen; Yan, Changzhen; Xing, Zanpin; Xiu, Lina

2017-10-14

The Muli coal mine is the largest open-cast coal mine in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and it consists of two independent mining sites named Juhugeng and Jiangcang. It has received much attention due to the ecological problems caused by rapid expansion in recent years. The objective of this paper was to monitor the mining area and its surrounding land cover over the period 1976-2016 utilizing Landsat images, and the network structure of land cover changes was determined to visualize the relationships and pattern of the mining-induced land cover changes. In addition, the responses of the surrounding landscape pattern were analysed by constructing gradient transects. The results show that the mining area was increasing in size, especially after 2000 (increased by 71.68 km 2 ), and this caused shrinkage of the surrounding lands, including alpine meadow wetland (53.44 km 2 ), alpine meadow (6.28 km 2 ) and water (6.24 km 2 ). The network structure of the mining area revealed the changes in lands surrounding the mining area. The impact of mining development on landscape patterns was mainly distributed within a range of 1-6 km. Alpine meadow wetland was most affected in Juhugeng, while alpine meadow was most affected in Jiangcang. The results of this study provide a reference for the ecological assessment and restoration of the Muli coal mine land.

How community-level social and economic developments have changed the patterns of substance use in a transition economy?

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Xiaozhao Y

2017-07-01

Most social changes take place at the community level before indirectly affecting individuals. Although the contextual effect is far-reaching, few studies have investigated the important questions of: how do community-level developments affect drinking and smoking, and how do they change the existing gender and income patterns of drinking and smoking, particularly in transition economies? In this study, I used a Chinese panel dataset between 1991 and 2011 to reveal the moderating effects of community developments. Through multilevel growth curve modeling that controls for age, period, and cohort effects, as well as individual- and community-level covariates, I found that community-level economic development and social development are negatively associated with drinking and smoking. Moreover, economic and social developments also moderate the important influences of income and gender: women start to drink more in communities with higher economic development; the traditionally positive association between income and smoking/drinking is also reversed, i.e. the rich start to smoke and drink less in communities with higher social development. This study concludes that the rapid changes in communal social and economic structures have created new health disparities based on the gender and socioeconomic hierarchy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Latent change models of adult cognition: are changes in processing speed and working memory associated with changes in episodic memory?

Science.gov (United States)

Hertzog, Christopher; Dixon, Roger A; Hultsch, David F; MacDonald, Stuart W S

2003-12-01

The authors used 6-year longitudinal data from the Victoria Longitudinal Study (VLS) to investigate individual differences in amount of episodic memory change. Latent change models revealed reliable individual differences in cognitive change. Changes in episodic memory were significantly correlated with changes in other cognitive variables, including speed and working memory. A structural equation model for the latent change scores showed that changes in speed and working memory predicted changes in episodic memory, as expected by processing resource theory. However, these effects were best modeled as being mediated by changes in induction and fact retrieval. Dissociations were detected between cross-sectional ability correlations and longitudinal changes. Shuffling the tasks used to define the Working Memory latent variable altered patterns of change correlations.

Changes in spatiotemporal land use patterns in selected hydrogeomorphic areas of China and the USA

Science.gov (United States)

Differences exist in land use/cover pattern and its change between the P. R. China and the USA. In order to describe those differences, land use changes in representative regions were quantitatively analyzed and compared. Xiamen City, Changzhutan region and Liupan Mountains regions were selected to ...

Temperature-Driven Change in the Unstable Growth Mode on Patterned GaAs(001)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tadayyon-Eslami, T.; Phaneuf, R. J.; Kan, H.-C.; Calhoun, L. C.

2006-01-01

We observe a dramatic change in the unstable growth mode during GaAs molecular beam epitaxy on patterned GaAs(001) as the temperature is lowered through approximately 540 deg. C, roughly coincident with the preroughening temperature. Observations of the As 2 flux dependence, however, rule out thermodynamic preroughening as driving the growth mode change. Similar observations rule out the change in surface reconstruction as the cause. Instead, we find evidence that the change in the unstable growth mode can be explained by a competition between the decreased adatom collection rate on small terraces and a small anisotropic barrier to adatom diffusion downward across step bunches

Change commitment in low-status merger partners: The role of information processing, relative ingroup prototypicality, and merger patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosa, Miriam; Kavanagh, Eithne; Kounov, Pavel; Jarosz, Sywlia; Waldzus, Sven; Collins, Elizabeth C; Giessner, Steffen

2017-09-01

Merger announcements cause stress among employees, often leading to low change commitment, especially among employees from the lower-status merger partner. Such stress influences how deeply employees process merger-relevant information. Previous research examined how merger patterns that preserve versus change status differences impact merger support, but did not address how employees' information processing may influence this relationship. The current research addresses this gap through a scenario experiment, focusing on the low-status merger partner. The interplay between merger patterns and information processing was examined regarding employees' prototypicality claims in relation to merger support. Results suggest that an integration-equality merger pattern increases change commitment via prototypicality claims in the new organization, conditional to employees' systematic information processing. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Ocean time-series reveals recurring seasonal patterns of virioplankton dynamics in the northwestern Sargasso Sea.

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, Rachel J; Breitbart, Mya; Lomas, Michael W; Carlson, Craig A

2012-02-01

There are an estimated 10(30) virioplankton in the world oceans, the majority of which are phages (viruses that infect bacteria). Marine phages encompass enormous genetic diversity, affect biogeochemical cycling of elements, and partially control aspects of prokaryotic production and diversity. Despite their importance, there is a paucity of data describing virioplankton distributions over time and depth in oceanic systems. A decade of high-resolution time-series data collected from the upper 300 m in the northwestern Sargasso Sea revealed recurring temporal and vertical patterns of virioplankton abundance in unprecedented detail. An annual virioplankton maximum developed between 60 and 100 m during periods of summer stratification and eroded during winter convective mixing. The timing and vertical positioning of this seasonal pattern was related to variability in water column stability and the dynamics of specific picophytoplankton and heterotrophic bacterioplankton lineages. Between 60 and 100 m, virioplankton abundance was negatively correlated to the dominant heterotrophic bacterioplankton lineage SAR11, as well as the less abundant picophytoplankton, Synechococcus. In contrast, virioplankton abundance was positively correlated to the dominant picophytoplankton lineage Prochlorococcus, and the less abundant alpha-proteobacteria, Rhodobacteraceae. Seasonally, virioplankton abundances were highly synchronous with Prochlorococcus distributions and the virioplankton to Prochlorococcus ratio remained remarkably constant during periods of water column stratification. The data suggest that a significant fraction of viruses in the mid-euphotic zone of the subtropical gyres may be cyanophages and patterns in their abundance are largely determined by Prochlorococcus dynamics in response to water column stability. This high-resolution, decadal survey of virioplankton abundance provides insight into the possible controls of virioplankton dynamics in the open ocean.

Dietary patterns and longitudinal change in hip bone mineral density among older men.

Science.gov (United States)

Rogers, T S; Harrison, S; Judd, S; Orwoll, E S; Marshall, L M; Shannon, J; Langsetmo, L; Lane, N E; Shikany, J M

2018-05-01

Studying dietary patterns is often more informative than individual nutrients or foods. We found that a Prudent dietary pattern (rich in vegetables and fish) was associated with reduced loss of total hip BMD in older men. A Prudent dietary pattern may be a potential lifestyle strategy for minimizing bone loss. This study aimed to identify baseline dietary patterns using factor analysis in a cohort of older men and to evaluate whether the dietary patterns were associated with bone mineral density change (%ΔBMD) at the total hip and femoral neck over time. Participants (n = 4379; mean age 72.9 ± 5.5 years) were from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) prospective cohort study and had dietary data collected at baseline (March 2000-April 2002) and BMD measured at baseline and Visit 2 (March 2005-May 2006). Dietary intake was assessed with a brief Block food frequency questionnaire (FFQ); factor analysis was used to derive dietary patterns. BMD was measured by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA); %ΔBMD was calculated from baseline to Visit 2. We used generalized linear regression to estimate least square (LS) means of %ΔBMD in quartiles of the dietary pattern scores adjusted for potential confounding factors. Two major dietary patterns were derived: Prudent (abundant in vegetables, salad, and non-fried fish) and Western (rich in hamburger, fries, processed meats, cheese, and sweets/desserts). There was an inverse association between adherence to the Prudent pattern and total hip %ΔBMD (p-trend = 0.028 after adjusting for age and clinical site; p-trend = 0.033 after further adjustment for smoking, calcium supplement use, diabetes, hypertension, and total energy intake). No other consistent associations between dietary patterns and %ΔBMD were observed. Greater adherence to a Prudent dietary pattern may attenuate total hip BMD loss (%ΔBMD) in older men.

CO I barcoding reveals new clades and radiation patterns of Indo-Pacific sponges of the family Irciniidae (Demospongiae: Dictyoceratida.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Judith Pöppe

2010-04-01

Full Text Available DNA barcoding is a promising tool to facilitate a rapid and unambiguous identification of sponge species. Demosponges of the order Dictyoceratida are particularly challenging to identify, but are of ecological as well as biochemical importance.Here we apply DNA barcoding with the standard CO1-barcoding marker on selected Indo-Pacific specimens of two genera, Ircinia and Psammocinia of the family Irciniidae. We show that the CO1 marker identifies several species new to science, reveals separate radiation patterns of deep-sea Ircinia sponges and indicates dispersal patterns of Psammocinia species. However, some species cannot be unambiguously barcoded by solely this marker due to low evolutionary rates.We support previous suggestions for a combination of the standard CO1 fragment with an additional fragment for sponge DNA barcoding.

Centrifugal expansion of fundus autofluorescence patterns in Stargardt disease over time.

Science.gov (United States)

Cukras, Catherine A; Wong, Wai T; Caruso, Rafael; Cunningham, Denise; Zein, Wadih; Sieving, Paul A

2012-02-01

To study the longitudinal changes in autofluorescence in Stargardt disease to reveal aspects of disease progression not previously evident. Changes in autofluorescence reflect changing fluorophore compositions of lipofuscin and melanin in retinal pigment epithelial cells, which has been hypothesized to contribute to Stargardt disease pathogenesis. We examined the temporospatial patterns of fundus autofluorescence with excitation at both 488 nm (standard fundus autofluorescence) and 795 nm (near-infrared autofluorescence) in a longitudinal case series involving 8 eyes of 4 patients (range of follow-up, 11-57 months; mean, 39 months). Image processing was performed to analyze spatial and temporal cross-modality associations. Longitudinal fundus autofluorescence imaging of fleck lesions revealed hyperautofluorescent lesions that extended in a centrifugal direction from the fovea with time. Patterns of spread were nonrandom and followed a radial path that left behind a trail of diminishing autofluorescence. Longitudinal near-infrared autofluorescence imaging also demonstrated centrifugal lesion spread but with fewer hyperautofluorescent lesions, suggestive of more transient hyperautofluorescence and more rapid decay at longer wavelengths. Fundus autofluorescence and near-infrared autofluorescence abnormalities were spatially correlated with each other, and together they reflect systematic progressions in fleck distribution and fluorophore composition occurring during the natural history of the disease. Stargardt disease fleck lesions do not evolve randomly in location but instead follow consistent patterns of radial expansion and a systematic decay of autofluorescence that reflect changing lipofuscin and melanin compositions in retinal pigment epithelial cells. These progressive foveal-to-peripheral changes are helpful in elucidating molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Stargardt disease and may constitute potential outcome measures in clinical trials.

Changes in Handset Performance Measures due to Spherical Radiation Pattern Measurement Uncertainty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Jesper Ødum; Pedersen, Gert Frølund

An important characteristic of a mobile handset is its ability to receive and transmit power. One way to characterize the performance of a handset in this respect is to use measurements of the spherical radiation pattern from which the total radiated power (TRP), total isotropic sensitivity (TIS)...... with respect to the environment. Standard deviations up to about 0.5dB and a maximum deviation of about 1.6dB were found....... in the performance measures are investigated for both the GSM-900 and the GSM-1800 band. Despite the deliberately large deviations from the reference position, the changes in TRP and TIS are generally within ±0.5dB with a maximum of about 1.4dB. For the MEG values the results depend on the orientation of the handset...... system that may introduce errors in standardized performance measurements. Radiation patterns of six handsets have been measured while they were mounted at various offsets from the reference position defined by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) certification. The change...

The traditional Japanese dietary pattern and longitudinal changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors in apparently healthy Japanese adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Kaijun; Momma, Haruki; Kobayashi, Yoritoshi; Guan, Lei; Chujo, Masahiko; Otomo, Atsushi; Ouchi, Eriko; Nagatomi, Ryoichi

2016-02-01

Few epidemiological studies have assessed the relationship between the traditional Japanese dietary pattern and longitudinal changes in cardiovascular disease risk factors among Japanese people. We designed a 3-year longitudinal study of 980 subjects living in Japan to evaluate how the Japanese dietary pattern is related to longitudinal changes in well-recognized risk factors for cardiovascular disease among apparently healthy Japanese adults. Dietary consumption was assessed via a validated food frequency questionnaire. Principal component analysis was used to derive three major dietary patterns-"Japanese," "sweets-fruits-cooked wheaten food," and "Izakaya (Japanese Pub)" from 39 food groups. After adjustment for potential confounders, the mean (95% confidence interval) for the change per year in diastolic blood pressure for men, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure for women related to the "Japanese" dietary pattern factor score tertiles were 0.89 (0.10, 1.68), 2.25 (0.19, 4.31), and 0.75 (-1.00, 2.50) for the lowest tertile, 0.77 (-0.02, 1.56), 1.01 (-1.13, 3.15), and 0.44 (-1.38, 2.26) for the middle tertile and - 0.04 (-0.81, 0.72), -0.48 (-2.52, 1.56), and -0.77 (-2.51, 0.96) for the highest tertile (trend P value = 0.03, pattern factor score tertiles and the longitudinal change in serum triglyceride concentration only in men (trend P value = 0.02). Greater adherence to a traditional Japanese diet was independently related to a decreased change every year in diastolic blood pressure in men and women and in systolic blood pressure in women over a 3-year follow-up period. The findings suggest that the "Japanese" dietary pattern appeared to be related to a fall in blood pressure, which might have a beneficial effect on cardiovascular disease. A randomized trial is required to clarify the underlying mechanism.

Effect of climate change on crop production patterns with implications to transport flows and inland waterways.

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

This project analyzed the demand for transportation capacity and changes in transportation flows on : inland waterways due to shifts in crop production patterns induced by climate change. Shifts in the crop : production mix have been observed in rece...

Changes in gluteal muscle forces with alteration of footstrike pattern during running.

Science.gov (United States)

Vannatta, Charles Nathan; Kernozek, Thomas W; Gheidi, Naghmeh

2017-10-01

Gait retraining is a common form of treatment for running related injuries. Proximal factors at the hip have been postulated as having a role in the development of running related injuries. How altering footstrike affects hip muscles forces and kinematics has not been described. Thus, we aimed to quantify differences in hip muscle forces and hip kinematics that may occur when healthy runners are instructed to alter their foot strike pattern from their habitual rear-foot strike to a forefoot strike. This may gain insight on the potential etiology and treatment methods of running related lower extremity injury. Twenty-five healthy female runners completed a minimum of 10 running trials in a controlled laboratory setting under rear-foot strike and instructed forefoot strike conditions. Kinetic and kinematic data were used in an inverse dynamic based static optimization to estimate individual muscle forces during running. Within subject differences were investigated using a repeated measures multi-variate analysis of variance. Peak gluteus medius and minimus and hamstring forces were reduced while peak gluteus maximus force was increased when running with an instructed forefoot strike pattern. Peak hip adduction, hip internal rotation, and heel-COM distance were also reduced. Therefore, instructing habitual rearfoot strike runners to run with a forefoot strike pattern resulted in changes in peak gluteal and hamstring muscle forces and hip kinematics. These changes may be beneficial to the development and treatment of running related lower extremity injury. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Examining patterns of change in the critical thinking skills of graduate nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

McMullen, Maureen A; McMullen, William F

2009-06-01

Although critical thinking in undergraduate nursing education has been explored in depth, little is known about the critical thinking skills of graduate nursing students. Prior research on change in critical thinking scores is based primarily on pretest and posttest assessments that provide minimal information about change. This study used individual growth modeling to investigate how critical thinking skills change during a 2-year graduate nurse program. Scores from the evaluation, inference, and analysis subscales of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test comprised the empirical growth record. Change in the three critical thinking skills was more dynamic than that reported in previous studies. Patterns of change differed by critical thinking skill and in relation to students' initial critical thinking skill levels at program entry.

Mechanical influences on morphogenesis of the knee joint revealed through morphological, molecular and computational analysis of immobilised embryos.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karen A Roddy

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Very little is known about the regulation of morphogenesis in synovial joints. Mechanical forces generated from muscle contractions are required for normal development of several aspects of normal skeletogenesis. Here we show that biophysical stimuli generated by muscle contractions impact multiple events during chick knee joint morphogenesis influencing differential growth of the skeletal rudiment epiphyses and patterning of the emerging tissues in the joint interzone. Immobilisation of chick embryos was achieved through treatment with the neuromuscular blocking agent Decamethonium Bromide. The effects on development of the knee joint were examined using a combination of computational modelling to predict alterations in biophysical stimuli, detailed morphometric analysis of 3D digital representations, cell proliferation assays and in situ hybridisation to examine the expression of a selected panel of genes known to regulate joint development. This work revealed the precise changes to shape, particularly in the distal femur, that occur in an altered mechanical environment, corresponding to predicted changes in the spatial and dynamic patterns of mechanical stimuli and region specific changes in cell proliferation rates. In addition, we show altered patterning of the emerging tissues of the joint interzone with the loss of clearly defined and organised cell territories revealed by loss of characteristic interzone gene expression and abnormal expression of cartilage markers. This work shows that local dynamic patterns of biophysical stimuli generated from muscle contractions in the embryo act as a source of positional information guiding patterning and morphogenesis of the developing knee joint.

Mechanical Influences on Morphogenesis of the Knee Joint Revealed through Morphological, Molecular and Computational Analysis of Immobilised Embryos

Science.gov (United States)

Roddy, Karen A.; Prendergast, Patrick J.; Murphy, Paula

2011-01-01

Very little is known about the regulation of morphogenesis in synovial joints. Mechanical forces generated from muscle contractions are required for normal development of several aspects of normal skeletogenesis. Here we show that biophysical stimuli generated by muscle contractions impact multiple events during chick knee joint morphogenesis influencing differential growth of the skeletal rudiment epiphyses and patterning of the emerging tissues in the joint interzone. Immobilisation of chick embryos was achieved through treatment with the neuromuscular blocking agent Decamethonium Bromide. The effects on development of the knee joint were examined using a combination of computational modelling to predict alterations in biophysical stimuli, detailed morphometric analysis of 3D digital representations, cell proliferation assays and in situ hybridisation to examine the expression of a selected panel of genes known to regulate joint development. This work revealed the precise changes to shape, particularly in the distal femur, that occur in an altered mechanical environment, corresponding to predicted changes in the spatial and dynamic patterns of mechanical stimuli and region specific changes in cell proliferation rates. In addition, we show altered patterning of the emerging tissues of the joint interzone with the loss of clearly defined and organised cell territories revealed by loss of characteristic interzone gene expression and abnormal expression of cartilage markers. This work shows that local dynamic patterns of biophysical stimuli generated from muscle contractions in the embryo act as a source of positional information guiding patterning and morphogenesis of the developing knee joint. PMID:21386908

Changing Adolescent Sleep Patterns: Factors Affecting them and the Related Problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaur, Harpreet; Bhoday, Harpreet Singh

2017-03-01

Sleep affects physical growth, behavior and emotional development besides determining cognitive functioning, learning and attention especially of a growing child. Adolescence represents one of the critical transitions in the life span and is characterized by a tremendous pace in growth and change that is second only to that of infancy. Adolescent sleep patterns deserve particular attention because of the potential impact on school performance. Average sleep period in adolescents is reduced during school days to around seven hours. The reasons may be biological mainly the sleep phase delay or psychosocial and environmental. These include academic demands, social activities, sports, internet, television viewing, part-time employment, and use of mobile phone at night, peer and parental influence and socioeconomic status. These changing patterns of sleep in adolescents lead to many behavioral sleep problems like Delayed Sleep-phase Syndrome; Difficulties in falling asleep (insomnia); excessive daytime sleepiness, poor academic performance. Decreased sleep in adolescents also causes obesity and other cardio-metabolic abnormalities. This needs an integrated approach involving adolescents themselves, their parents, teachers and specialized physicians to help improve the sleep quantity and quality and lead to a better quality of life and daytime functioning in adolescents. © Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2011.

Spatial Pattern and Scale Influence Invader Demographic Response to Simulated Precipitation Change in an Annual Grassland Community.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Meghan J Skaer Thomason

Full Text Available It is important to predict which invasive species will benefit from future changes in climate, and thereby identify those invaders that need particular attention and prioritization of management efforts. Because establishment, persistence, and spread determine invasion success, this prediction requires detailed demographic information. Explicit study of the impact of pattern on demographic response is particularly important for species that are naturally patchy, such as the invasive grass, Aegilops triuncialis. In the northern California Coast Range, where climate change may increase or decrease mean annual rainfall, we conducted a field experiment to understand the interaction of climate change and local-scale patterning on the demography of A. triuncialis. We manipulated precipitation (reduced, ambient, or augmented, seed density, and seeding pattern. Demographic and environmental data were collected for three years following initial seeding. Pattern and scale figure prominently in the demographic response of A. triuncialis to precipitation manipulation. Pattern interacts with precipitation and seeding density in its influence on per-plant seed output. Although per-plot seed production was highest when seeds were not aggregated, per-plant seed output was higher in aggregated patches. Results suggest aggregation of invasive A. triuncialis reduces the detrimental impact of interspecific competition in its invaded community, and that interspecific competition per se has a stronger impact than intraspecific competition.

Changes in DNA Methylation Pattern at Two Seedling Stages in Water Saving and Drought-Resistant Rice Variety after Drought Stress Domestication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiao-guo ZHENG

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Recent studies revealed that DNA methylation plays an important role in plant growth and development. In this study, a water-saving and drought-resistant rice variety Huhan 3 was subjected to drought stress from tillering to grain-filling stages in six successive growth cycles. The variations in DNA methylation pattern between the original generation (G0 and the sixth generation (G6 were analyzed by using methylation sensitive amplification polymorphism method. The results revealed that the methylated loci accounted for 34.3% to 34.8% of the total loci. Among these methylated loci, 83.1% to 84.8% were full- and hyper-methylated and 15.2% to 16.9% were hemi-methylated. The DNA methylation level decreased from the three-leaf to four-leaf stages in Huhan 3. Differentially methylated loci (DML between generations or/and between different developmental stages accounted for 4.0% of the total loci, most of which were only related to plant development (57.9%. Compared to G0, the DNA methylation pattern of G6 changed after drought domestication, at the three-leaf stage, de-methylation accounting for 59.1%, while at the four-leaf stage, re-methylation for 47.9%. Genome-wide alternations of DNA methylation were observed between the two seedling stages, and DML mainly occurred on the gene's promoter and exon region. The genes related to DML involved in a wide range of functional biology and participated in many important biological processes.

Descriptive parameters for revealing substitution patterns of sugar beet pectins using pectolytic enzymes.

Science.gov (United States)

Remoroza, C; Buchholt, H C; Gruppen, H; Schols, H A

2014-01-30

Enzymatic fingerprinting was applied to sugar beet pectins (SBPs) modified by either plant or fungal pectin methyl esterases and alkali catalyzed de-esterification to reveal the ester distributions over the pectin backbone. A simultaneous pectin lyase (PL) treatment to the commonly used endo-polygalacturonase (endo-PG) degradation showed to be effective in degrading both high and low methylesterified and/or acetylated homogalaturonan regions of SBP simultaneously. Using LC-HILIC-MS/ELSD, we studied in detail all the diagnostic oligomers present, enabling us to discriminate between differently prepared sugar beet pectins having various levels of methylesterification and acetylation. Furthermore, distinction between commercially extracted and de-esterified sugar beet pectin having different patterns of substitution was achieved by using novel descriptive pectin parameters. In addition to DBabs approach for nonmethylesterified sequences degradable by endo-PG, the "degree of hydrolysis" (DHPG) representing all partially saturated methylesterified and/or acetylated galacturonic acid (GalA) moieties was introduced as a new parameter. Consequently, the description DHPL has been introduced to quantify all esterified unsaturated GalA oligomers. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimating repetitive spatiotemporal patterns from resting-state brain activity data.

Science.gov (United States)

Takeda, Yusuke; Hiroe, Nobuo; Yamashita, Okito; Sato, Masa-Aki

2016-06-01

Repetitive spatiotemporal patterns in spontaneous brain activities have been widely examined in non-human studies. These studies have reported that such patterns reflect past experiences embedded in neural circuits. In human magnetoencephalography (MEG) and electroencephalography (EEG) studies, however, spatiotemporal patterns in resting-state brain activities have not been extensively examined. This is because estimating spatiotemporal patterns from resting-state MEG/EEG data is difficult due to their unknown onsets. Here, we propose a method to estimate repetitive spatiotemporal patterns from resting-state brain activity data, including MEG/EEG. Without the information of onsets, the proposed method can estimate several spatiotemporal patterns, even if they are overlapping. We verified the performance of the method by detailed simulation tests. Furthermore, we examined whether the proposed method could estimate the visual evoked magnetic fields (VEFs) without using stimulus onset information. The proposed method successfully detected the stimulus onsets and estimated the VEFs, implying the applicability of this method to real MEG data. The proposed method was applied to resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and MEG data. The results revealed informative spatiotemporal patterns representing consecutive brain activities that dynamically change with time. Using this method, it is possible to reveal discrete events spontaneously occurring in our brains, such as memory retrieval. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Greener Arctic: Vascular Plant Litter Input in Subarctic Peat Bogs Changes Soil Invertebrate Diets and Decomposition Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Krab, E. J.; Berg, M. P.; Aerts, R.; van Logtestijn, R. S. P.; Cornelissen, H. H. C.

2014-12-01

Climate-change-induced trends towards shrub dominance in subarctic, moss-dominated peatlands will most likely have large effects on soil carbon (C) dynamics through an input of more easily decomposable litter. The mechanisms by which this increase in vascular litter input interacts with the abundance and diet-choice of the decomposer community to alter C-processing have, however, not yet been unraveled. We used a novel 13C tracer approach to link invertebrate species composition (Collembola), abundance and species-specific feeding behavior to C-processing of vascular and peat moss litters. We incubated different litter mixtures, 100% Sphagnum moss litter, 100% Betula leaf litter, and a 50/50 mixture of both, in mesocosms for 406 days. We revealed the transfer of C from the litters to the soil invertebrate species by 13C labeling of each of the litter types and assessed 13C signatures of the invertebrates Collembola species composition differed significantly between Sphagnum and Betula litter. Within the 'single type litter' mesocosms, Collembola species showed different 13C signatures, implying species-specific differences in diet choice. Surprisingly, the species composition and Collembola abundance changed relatively little as a consequence of Betula input to a Sphagnum based system. Their diet choice, however, changed drastically; species-specific differences in diet choice disappeared and approximately 67% of the food ingested by all Collembola originated from Betula litter. Furthermore, litter decomposition patterns corresponded to these findings; mass loss of Betula increased from 16.1% to 26.2% when decomposing in combination with Sphagnum, while Sphagnum decomposed even slower in combination with Betula litter (1.9%) than alone (4.7%). This study is the first to empirically show that collective diet shifts of the peatland decomposer community from mosses towards vascular plant litter may drive altered decomposition patterns. In addition, we showed that

Long-term acoustical observations of the mesopelagic fish Maurolicus muelleri reveal novel and varied vertical migration patterns

KAUST Repository

Staby, A

2011-11-15

We studied the temporal dynamics in the vertical distribution of Maurolicus muelleri scattering layers (SL) by examining continuous acoustic recordings over a 15 mo period in Masfjorden, Norway, complemented by intermittent sampling campaigns. The data revealed known patterns as normal diel vertical migration (DVM), midnight sinking between dusk and dawn, and periods without migrations, as well as novel behaviours consisting of early morning ascents, reverse diel vertical migrations, and interrupted ascents in the evening. During the first autumn of the study, adult fish modified their normal DVM behaviour by suspending their migration in the evening, yet ascending toward the surface in the later part of the night to reach upper layers during dawn. This behaviour was not observed during the second autumn of the study. By mid- to end of November (1st autumn), adult fish had suspended the nocturnal ascent entirely, and in the subsequent period until the end of January, a fraction of the population rather performed limited reverse migrations, slightly shifting their vertical distribution upwards during the first part of the day. From January to March 2008, fish interrupted their evening ascent at apparently random intervals and returned to deeper waters, instead of completing a full ascent to the surface. Our study underlines the value of long-term recordings, with the results suggesting that M. muelleri has the capability of changing its behaviour in response to ontogeny and internal state (satiation and hunger) as well as to external stimuli.

Patterns of mechanical energy change in tetrapod gait: pendula, springs and work.

Science.gov (United States)

Biewener, Andrew A

2006-11-01

Kinematic and center of mass (CoM) mechanical variables used to define terrestrial gaits are compared for various tetrapod species. Kinematic variables (limb phase, duty factor) provide important timing information regarding the neural control and limb coordination of various gaits. Whereas, mechanical variables (potential and kinetic energy relative phase, %Recovery, %Congruity) provide insight into the underlying mechanisms that minimize muscle work and the metabolic cost of locomotion, and also influence neural control strategies. Two basic mechanisms identified by Cavagna et al. (1977. Am J Physiol 233:R243-R261) are used broadly by various bipedal and quadrupedal species. During walking, animals exchange CoM potential energy (PE) with kinetic energy (KE) via an inverted pendulum mechanism to reduce muscle work. During the stance period of running (including trotting, hopping and galloping) gaits, animals convert PE and KE into elastic strain energy in spring elements of the limbs and trunk and regain this energy later during limb support. The bouncing motion of the body on the support limb(s) is well represented by a simple mass-spring system. Limb spring compliance allows the storage and return of elastic energy to reduce muscle work. These two distinct patterns of CoM mechanical energy exchange are fairly well correlated with kinematic distinctions of limb movement patterns associated with gait change. However, in some cases such correlations can be misleading. When running (or trotting) at low speeds many animals lack an aerial period and have limb duty factors that exceed 0.5. Rather than interpreting this as a change of gait, the underlying mechanics of the body's CoM motion indicate no fundamental change in limb movement pattern or CoM dynamics has occurred. Nevertheless, the idealized, distinctive patterns of CoM energy fluctuation predicted by an inverted pendulum for walking and a bouncing mass spring for running are often not clear cut, especially

Association of dietary patterns and weight change in rural older adults 75 years and older

Science.gov (United States)

Little is known about the relationship between weight change and dietary patterns (DP) in older adults, especially in those of advanced age (_75 years). We examined the association of DP with obesity and five-year weight change in community-dwelling older adults (n=270; mean±SD age: 78.6±3.9 years)....

Attribution of changes in precipitation patterns in African rainforests

Science.gov (United States)

Otto, Friederike E. L.; Jones, Richard G.; Halladay, Kate; Allen, Myles R.

2013-01-01

Tropical rainforests in Africa are one of the most under-researched regions in the world, but research in the Amazonian rainforest suggests potential vulnerability to climate change. Using the large ensemble of Atmosphere-only general circulation model (AGCM) simulations within the weather@home project, statistics of precipitation in the dry season of the Congo Basin rainforest are analysed. By validating the model simulation against observations, we could identify a good model performance for the June, July, August (JJA) dry season, but this result does need to be taken with caution as observed data are of poor quality. Additional validation methods have been used to investigate the applicability of probabilistic event attribution analysis from large model ensembles to a tropical region, in this case the Congo Basin. These methods corroborate the confidence in the model, leading us to believe the attribution result to be robust. That is, that there are no significant changes in the risk of low precipitation extremes during this dry season (JJA) precipitation in the Congo Basin. Results for the December, January, February dry season are less clear. The study highlights that attribution analysis has the potential to provide valuable scientific evidence of recent or anticipated climatological changes, especially in regions with sparse observational data and unclear projections of future changes. However, the strong influence of sea surface temperature teleconnection patterns on tropical precipitation provides more challenges in the set up of attribution studies than midlatitude rainfall. PMID:23878330

Associations Between Dietary Patterns and Longitudinal Quality of Life Changes in Colorectal Cancer Patients: The ColoCare Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Gigic, Biljana; Boeing, Heiner; Toth, Reka; Böhm, Jürgen; Habermann, Nina; Scherer, Dominique; Schrotz-King, Petra; Abbenhardt-Martin, Clare; Skender, Stephanie; Brenner, Hermann; Chang-Claude, Jenny; Hoffmeister, Michael; Syrjala, Karen; Jacobsen, Paul B; Schneider, Martin; Ulrich, Alexis; Ulrich, Cornelia M

2018-01-01

Quality of life (QoL) is an important clinical outcome in cancer patients. We investigated associations between dietary patterns and QoL changes in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. The study included 192 CRC patients with available EORTC QLQ-C30 data before and 12 months post-surgery and food frequency questionnaire data at 12 months post-surgery. Principal component analysis was used to identify dietary patterns. Multivariate regression models assessed associations between dietary patterns and QoL changes over time. We identified four major dietary patterns: "Western" dietary pattern characterized by high consumption of potatoes, red and processed meat, poultry, and cakes, "fruit&vegetable" pattern: high intake of vegetables, fruits, vegetable oils, and soy products, "bread&butter" pattern: high intake of bread, butter and margarine, and "high-carb" pattern: high consumption of pasta, grains, nonalcoholic beverages, sauces and condiments. Patients following a "Western" diet had lower chances to improve in physical functioning (OR = 0.45 [0.21-0.99]), constipation (OR = 0.30 [0.13-0.72]) and diarrhea (OR: 0.44 [0.20-0.98]) over time. Patients following a "fruit&vegetable" diet showed improving diarrhea scores (OR: 2.52 [1.21-5.34]. A "Western" dietary pattern after surgery is inversely associated with QoL in CRC patients, whereas a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may be beneficial for patients' QoL over time.

Cerebral Activity Changes in Different Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns of Psychogenic Erectile Dysfunction Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Qi; Zhang, Peihai; Pan, Junjie; Li, Zhengjie; Liu, Jixin; Li, Guangsen; Qin, Wei; You, Yaodong; Yu, Xujun; Sun, Jinbo; Dong, Minghao; Gong, Qiyong; Guo, Jun; Chang, Degui

2015-01-01

Background. Pattern differentiation is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED). This study aims to investigate the differences in cerebral activity in ED patients with different TCM patterns. Methods. 27 psychogenic ED patients and 27 healthy subjects (HS) were enrolled in this study. Each participant underwent an fMRI scan in resting state. The fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) was used to detect the brain activity changes in ED patients with different patterns. Results. Compared to HS, ED patients showed an increased cerebral activity in bilateral cerebellum, insula, globus pallidus, parahippocampal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and middle cingulate cortex (MCC). Compared to the patients with liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency pattern (LSSDP), the patients with kidney-yang deficiency pattern (KDP) showed an increased activity in bilateral brainstem, cerebellum, hippocampus, and the right insula, thalamus, MCC, and a decreased activity in bilateral putamen, medial frontal gyrus, temporal pole, and the right caudate nucleus, OFC, anterior cingulate cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex (P emotion-related regions, including prefrontal cortex and cingulated cortex.

Divergent Significance of Bone Mineral Density Changes in Aging Depending on Sites and Sex Revealed through Separate Analyses of Bone Mineral Content and Area

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yasumoto Matsui

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Bone mineral density (aBMD is equivalent to bone mineral content (BMC divided by area. We rechecked the significance of aBMD changes in aging by examining BMC and area separately. Subjects were 1167 community-dwelling Japanese men and women, aged 40–79 years. ABMDs of femoral neck and lumbar spine were assessed by DXA twice, at 6-year intervals. The change rates of BMC and area, as well as aBMD, were calculated and described separately by the age stratum and by sex. In the femoral neck region, aBMDs were significantly decreased in all age strata by an increase in area as well as BMC loss in the same pattern in both sexes. In the lumbar spine region, aBMDs decreased until the age of 60 in women, caused by the significant BMC decrease accompanying the small area change. Very differently in men, aBMDs increased after their 50s due to BMC increase, accompanied by an area increase. Separate analyses of BMC and area change revealed that the significance of aBMD changes in aging was very divergent among sites and between sexes. This may explain in part the dissociation of aBMD change and bone strength, suggesting that we should be more cautious when interpreting the meaning of aBMD change.

Do changes in per capita consumption mirror changes in drinking patterns?

Science.gov (United States)

Smart, R G; Suurvali, H M; Mann, R E

2000-07-01

The goal of this study was to examine how well per capita alcohol consumption figures derived from beverage sales data relate to changes over time in survey-based measures of drinking patterns. It was expected that strong associations would be found among these various measures of consumption. Data from 12 household surveys conducted in Ontario between 1977 and 1997 provided information on: percentages of drinkers; daily drinkers; those drinking five or more drinks at a sitting weekly; those reporting two or more alcohol-related harms; and average number of drinks per week. These variables were then correlated with per capita consumption. Significant correlations were found only between per capita consumption and percentage of daily drinkers, and between percentage of drinkers and average number of drinks per week. The relationship of per capita consumption to survey measures of drinking is weak. The absence of consistent associations over time between per capita consumption and survey measures may be attributable to the small number of available data points or to increases in unrecorded consumption. Further research is needed to verify and explain these results.

Residual flow patterns and morphological changes along a macro- and meso-tidal coastline

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Leonardi, Nicoletta; Plater, Andrew James

2017-11-01

The hydrodynamic and residual transport patterns arising from oscillating tidal motion have important consequences for the transport of sediments, and for the evolution of the shoreline, especially under macro- and meso-tidal conditions. For many locations there are significant uncertainties about residual currents and sediment transport characteristics, and their possible influence on the morphological evolution of the coastline and on the character of the bed. Herein we use the coastline of SE England as a test case to investigate possible changes in residual currents, and residual transport patterns from neap to spring tide, the reciprocal interaction between residuals and the character of the bed, and the morphological evolution of the coastline at a century timescale. We found that in the long term the morphology of the system evolves toward a dynamic equilibrium configuration characterized by smaller, and spatially constant residual transport patterns. While the spatial distribution of residual currents maintains a similar trend during both neap and spring tide, during spring tide and for large areas residual currents switch between northerly and southerly directions, and their magnitude is doubled. Residual eddies develop in regions characterized by the presence of sand bars due to the interaction of the tide with the varying topography. Residual transport patterns are also computed for various sediment fractions, and based on the hydrodynamics and sediment availability at the bottom. We found that the distribution of sediments on the bed is significantly correlated with the intensity of residuals. Finally, the majority of long-term morphological changes tend to develop or augment sand banks features, with an increase in elevation and steepening of the bank contours.

Centrifugal Expansion of Fundus Autofluorescence Patterns in Stargardt Disease Over Time

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Cukras, Catherine A.; Wong, Wai T.; Caruso, Rafael; Cunningham, Denise; Zein, Wadih; Sieving, Paul

2012-01-01

Objective Changing lipofuscin and melanin content in RPE cells has been hypothesized to contribute to Stargardt disease pathogenesis. Longitudinal study of autofluorescence in Stargardt disease which reflect changing fluorophore compositions can reveal aspects of disease progression not previously evident. Method We examined the temporal-spatial patterns of fundus autofluorescence with excitation at both 488 nm (standard fundus autofluorescence, FAF) and 795nm (near infrared autofluorescence, NIA) in a longitudinal case series involving 8 eyes of 4 patients (range of follow-up = 11 to 57 months; mean = 39 months). Image processing was performed to analyze spatial and temporal cross-modality associations. Results Longitudinal FAF imaging of fleck lesions revealed hyperautofluorescent lesions that extended in a centrifugal direction from the fovea with time. Patterns of spread were non-random and followed a radial path that leaves behind a trail of diminishing autofluorescence. Longitudinal NIA imaging also demonstrated centrifugal lesion spread, but with fewer hyperautofluorescent lesions, suggestive of more transient hyperautofluorescence and more rapid decay at longer wavelengths. FAF and NIA abnormalities were spatially correlated to each other, and together reflect systematic progressions in fleck distribution and fluorophore composition occurring during the natural history of the disease. Conclusion Stargardt disease fleck lesions do not evolve randomly in location but instead follow consistent patterns of radial expansion and a systematic decay of autofluorescence that reflect changing lipofuscin and melanin compositions in RPE cells. These progressive foveal-to-peripheral changes are helpful in elucidating molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying Stargardt disease and may constitute potential outcome measures in clinical trials. PMID:21987580

Who's the Boss? Patterns of Control in Adolescents' Sibling Relationships.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Corinna Jenkins; Updegraff, Kimberly A; Baril, Megan E

2010-12-01

The goals of this study were to examine longitudinal changes in perceived control in adolescents' sibling relationships and to describe the nature and correlates of three distinct control patterns: Firstborn dominant, equal, and secondborn dominant. Firstborn and secondborn adolescents in 184 predominately European-American families participated in home interviews and a series of phone interviews as part of a longitudinal a study of family relationships and adolescent development. Findings revealed changes in control over three years as well as sibling differences. In addition, different patterns of control were linked to qualities of the sibling relationship and to adolescent adjustment. The different roles that firstborn and secondborn siblings assume, and why these roles are linked to relationship experiences and adjustment, are discussed.

Assessing urban context-induced change in individual activity travel patterns : case study of new railway station

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Arentze, T.A.; Borgers, A.W.J.; Ponjé, M.M.W.; Stams, A.; Timmermans, H.J.P.

2001-01-01

Findings are reported of selective descriptive analyses that were conducted to examine whether the opening of a new railway station had induced any changes in the activity travel patterns of a panel of house holds. In particular, changes in choices related to trip generation, trip chaining,

New drugs on the street: changing inner city patterns of illicit consumption

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Singer, Merrill

2005-01-01

.... 16, No. 1/2 2000. The journal is renumbered to start as Vol. 1, No. 1 2002. New Drugs on the Street: Changing Inner City Patterns of Illicit Consumption, edited by Merrill Singer, PhD (Vol. 4, No. 2, 2005). "ESSENTIAL READING for anyone in the drug use area who wants to be brought up-to-date on the current state of the field. This edited ...

Multilocus phylogeography of a widespread savanna-woodland-adapted rodent reveals the influence of Pleistocene geomorphology and climate change in Africa's Zambezi region.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonough, Molly M; Šumbera, Radim; Mazoch, Vladimír; Ferguson, Adam W; Phillips, Caleb D; Bryja, Josef

2015-10-01

Understanding historical influences of climate and physiographic barriers in shaping patterns of biodiversity remains limited for many regions of the world. For mammals of continental Africa, phylogeographic studies, particularly for West African lineages, implicate both geographic barriers and climate oscillations in shaping small mammal diversity. In contrast, studies for southern African species have revealed conflicting phylogenetic patterns for how mammalian lineages respond to both climate change and geologic events such as river formation, especially during the Pleistocene. However, these studies were often biased by limited geographic sampling or exclusively focused on large-bodied taxa. We exploited the broad southern African distribution of a savanna-woodland-adapted African rodent, Gerbilliscus leucogaster (bushveld gerbil) and generated mitochondrial, autosomal and sex chromosome data to quantify regional signatures of climatic and vicariant biogeographic phenomena. Results indicate the most recent common ancestor for all G. leucogaster lineages occurred during the early Pleistocene. We documented six divergent mitochondrial lineages that diverged ~0.270-0.100 mya, each of which was geographically isolated during periods characterized by alterations to the course of the Zambezi River and its tributaries as well as regional 'megadroughts'. Results demonstrate the presence of a widespread lineage exhibiting demographic expansion ~0.065-0.035 mya, a time that coincides with savanna-woodland expansion across southern Africa. A multilocus autosomal perspective revealed the influence of the Kafue River as a current barrier to gene flow and regions of secondary contact among divergent mitochondrial lineages. Our results demonstrate the importance of both climatic fluctuations and physiographic vicariance in shaping the distribution of southern African biodiversity. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Microradiometers Reveal Ocean Health, Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

When NASA researcher Stanford Hooker is in the field, he pays close attention to color. For Hooker, being in the field means being at sea. On one such research trip to the frigid waters of the Arctic, with a Coast Guard icebreaker looming nearby and the snow-crusted ice shelf a few feet away, Hooker leaned over the edge of his small boat and lowered a tethered device into the bright turquoise water, a new product devised by a NASA partner and enabled by a promising technology for oceanographers and atmospheric scientists alike. Color is a function of light. Pure water is clear, but the variation in color observed during a visit to the beach or a flight along a coastline depends on the water s depth and the constituents in it, how far down the light penetrates and how it is absorbed and scattered by dissolved and suspended material. Hooker cares about ocean color because of what it can reveal about the health of the ocean, and in turn, the health of our planet. "The main thing we are interested in is the productivity of the water," Hooker says. The seawater contains phytoplankton, microscopic plants, which are the food base for the ocean s ecosystems. Changes in the water s properties, whether due to natural seasonal effects or human influence, can lead to problems for delicate ecosystems such as coral reefs. Ocean color can inform researchers about the quantities and distribution of phytoplankton and other materials, providing clues as to how the world ocean is changing. NASA s Coastal Zone Color Scanner, launched in 1978, was the first ocean color instrument flown on a spacecraft. Since then, the Agency s ocean color research capabilities have become increasingly sophisticated with the launch of the SeaWiFS instrument in 1997 and the twin MODIS instruments carried into orbit on NASA s Terra (1999) and Aqua (2002) satellites. The technology provides sweeping, global information on ocean color on a scale unattainable by any other means. One issue that arises from

Novice medical students: individual patterns in the use of learning strategies and how they change during the first academic year.

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Fabry, Götz; Giesler, Marianne

2012-01-01

Adequate use of different learning strategies is one of the most important prerequisites of academic success. The actual use of learning strategies is the result of an interaction between individual and situational variables. Against this background we conducted a longitudinal study with first year medical students to investigate whether individuals show different patterns in their use of learning strategies and whether these patterns change during the first academic year. Medical students (N=175, 58% female) were surveyed three times in their first academic year regarding their use of learning strategies. A hierarchical cluster analysis (Ward) was conducted in order to identify groups of students with different patterns of learning strategies. We identified four different patterns in approaches to learning among novice medical students ("easy-going", "flexible", "problematic" and "hardworking" learners). Compared to their peers, the problematic learners had the worst final school grades. In addition changes in the use of learning strategies were identified, most of them occurred during the first term. Students start their academic studies with different patterns of learning strategies; the characteristics of these patterns change during the first academic year. Further research is necessary to better understand how individual and situational variables determine students' learning.

Cerebral Activity Changes in Different Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns of Psychogenic Erectile Dysfunction Patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qi Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Pattern differentiation is the foundation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM treatment for erectile dysfunction (ED. This study aims to investigate the differences in cerebral activity in ED patients with different TCM patterns. Methods. 27 psychogenic ED patients and 27 healthy subjects (HS were enrolled in this study. Each participant underwent an fMRI scan in resting state. The fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF was used to detect the brain activity changes in ED patients with different patterns. Results. Compared to HS, ED patients showed an increased cerebral activity in bilateral cerebellum, insula, globus pallidus, parahippocampal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC, and middle cingulate cortex (MCC. Compared to the patients with liver-qi stagnation and spleen deficiency pattern (LSSDP, the patients with kidney-yang deficiency pattern (KDP showed an increased activity in bilateral brainstem, cerebellum, hippocampus, and the right insula, thalamus, MCC, and a decreased activity in bilateral putamen, medial frontal gyrus, temporal pole, and the right caudate nucleus, OFC, anterior cingulate cortex, and posterior cingulate cortex (P<0.005. Conclusions. The ED patients with different TCM patterns showed different brain activities. The differences in cerebral activity between LSSDP and KDP were mainly in the emotion-related regions, including prefrontal cortex and cingulated cortex.

Genome-Wide Methylome Analyses Reveal Novel Epigenetic Regulation Patterns in Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder

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Li, Yongsheng; Camarillo, Cynthia; Xu, Juan; Arana, Tania Bedard; Xiao, Yun; Zhao, Zheng; Chen, Hong; Ramirez, Mercedes; Zavala, Juan; Escamilla, Michael A.; Armas, Regina; Mendoza, Ricardo; Ontiveros, Alfonso; Nicolini, Humberto; Jerez Magaña, Alvaro Antonio; Rubin, Lewis P.; Li, Xia; Xu, Chun

2015-01-01

Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BP) are complex genetic disorders. Their appearance is also likely informed by as yet only partially described epigenetic contributions. Using a sequencing-based method for genome-wide analysis, we quantitatively compared the blood DNA methylation landscapes in SZ and BP subjects to control, both in an understudied population, Hispanics along the US-Mexico border. Remarkably, we identified thousands of differentially methylated regions for SZ and BP preferentially located in promoters 3′-UTRs and 5′-UTRs of genes. Distinct patterns of aberrant methylation of promoter sequences were located surrounding transcription start sites. In these instances, aberrant methylation occurred in CpG islands (CGIs) as well as in flanking regions as well as in CGI sparse promoters. Pathway analysis of genes displaying these distinct aberrant promoter methylation patterns showed enhancement of epigenetic changes in numerous genes previously related to psychiatric disorders and neurodevelopment. Integration of gene expression data further suggests that in SZ aberrant promoter methylation is significantly associated with altered gene transcription. In particular, we found significant associations between (1) promoter CGIs hypermethylation with gene repression and (2) CGI 3′-shore hypomethylation with increased gene expression. Finally, we constructed a specific methylation analysis platform that facilitates viewing and comparing aberrant genome methylation in human neuropsychiatric disorders. PMID:25734057

A global analysis of bird plumage patterns reveals no association between habitat and camouflage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Somveille

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Evidence suggests that animal patterns (motifs function in camouflage. Irregular mottled patterns can facilitate concealment when stationary in cluttered habitats, whereas regular patterns typically prevent capture during movement in open habitats. Bird plumage patterns have predominantly converged on just four types—mottled (irregular, scales, bars and spots (regular—and habitat could be driving convergent evolution in avian patterning. Based on sensory ecology, we therefore predict that irregular patterns would be associated with visually noisy closed habitats and that regular patterns would be associated with open habitats. Regular patterns have also been shown to function in communication for sexually competing males to stand-out and attract females, so we predict that male breeding plumage patterns evolved in both open and closed habitats. Here, taking phylogenetic relatedness into account, we investigate ecological selection for bird plumage patterns across the class Aves. We surveyed plumage patterns in 80% of all avian species worldwide. Of these, 2,756 bird species have regular and irregular plumage patterns as well as habitat information. In this subset, we tested whether adult breeding/non-breeding plumages in each sex, and juvenile plumages, were associated with the habitat types found within the species’ geographical distributions. We found no evidence for an association between habitat and plumage patterns across the world’s birds and little phylogenetic signal. We also found that species with regular and irregular plumage patterns were distributed randomly across the world’s eco-regions without being affected by habitat type. These results indicate that at the global spatial and taxonomic scale, habitat does not predict convergent evolution in bird plumage patterns, contrary to the camouflage hypothesis.

A global analysis of bird plumage patterns reveals no association between habitat and camouflage.

Science.gov (United States)

Somveille, Marius; Marshall, Kate L A; Gluckman, Thanh-Lan

2016-01-01

Evidence suggests that animal patterns (motifs) function in camouflage. Irregular mottled patterns can facilitate concealment when stationary in cluttered habitats, whereas regular patterns typically prevent capture during movement in open habitats. Bird plumage patterns have predominantly converged on just four types-mottled (irregular), scales, bars and spots (regular)-and habitat could be driving convergent evolution in avian patterning. Based on sensory ecology, we therefore predict that irregular patterns would be associated with visually noisy closed habitats and that regular patterns would be associated with open habitats. Regular patterns have also been shown to function in communication for sexually competing males to stand-out and attract females, so we predict that male breeding plumage patterns evolved in both open and closed habitats. Here, taking phylogenetic relatedness into account, we investigate ecological selection for bird plumage patterns across the class Aves. We surveyed plumage patterns in 80% of all avian species worldwide. Of these, 2,756 bird species have regular and irregular plumage patterns as well as habitat information. In this subset, we tested whether adult breeding/non-breeding plumages in each sex, and juvenile plumages, were associated with the habitat types found within the species' geographical distributions. We found no evidence for an association between habitat and plumage patterns across the world's birds and little phylogenetic signal. We also found that species with regular and irregular plumage patterns were distributed randomly across the world's eco-regions without being affected by habitat type. These results indicate that at the global spatial and taxonomic scale, habitat does not predict convergent evolution in bird plumage patterns, contrary to the camouflage hypothesis.

Contrasting elevational diversity patterns for soil bacteria between two ecosystems divided by the treeline.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guixiang; Xu, Guorui; Shen, Congcong; Tang, Yong; Zhang, Yuxin; Ma, Keming

2016-11-01

Above- and below-ground organisms are closely linked, but how elevational distribution pattern of soil microbes shifting across the treeline still remains unknown. Sampling of 140 plots with transect, we herein investigated soil bacterial distribution pattern from a temperate forest up to a subalpine meadow along an elevational gradient using Illumina sequencing. Our results revealed distinct elevational patterns of bacterial diversity above and below the treeline in responding to changes in soil conditions: a hollow elevational pattern in the forest (correlated with soil temperature, pH, and C:N ratio) and a significantly decreasing pattern in the meadow (correlated with soil pH, and available phosphorus). The bacterial community structure was also distinct between the forest and meadow, relating to soil pH in the forest and soil temperature in the meadow. Soil bacteria did not follow the distribution pattern of herb diversity, but bacterial community structure could be predicted by herb community composition. These results suggest that plant communities have an important influence on soil characteristics, and thus change the elevational distribution of soil bacteria. Our findings are useful for future assessments of climate change impacts on microbial community.

Effects of El Niño-driven changes in wind patterns on North Pacific albatrosses.

Science.gov (United States)

Thorne, L H; Conners, M G; Hazen, E L; Bograd, S J; Antolos, M; Costa, D P; Shaffer, S A

2016-06-01

Changes to patterns of wind and ocean currents are tightly linked to climate change and have important implications for cost of travel and energy budgets in marine vertebrates. We evaluated how El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-driven wind patterns affected breeding Laysan and black-footed albatross across a decade of study. Owing to latitudinal variation in wind patterns, wind speed differed between habitat used during incubation and brooding; during La Niña conditions, wind speeds were lower in incubating Laysan (though not black-footed) albatross habitat, but higher in habitats used by brooding albatrosses. Incubating Laysan albatrosses benefited from increased wind speeds during El Niño conditions, showing increased travel speeds and mass gained during foraging trips. However, brooding albatrosses did not benefit from stronger winds during La Niña conditions, instead experiencing stronger cumulative headwinds and a smaller proportion of trips in tailwinds. Increased travel costs during brooding may contribute to the lower reproductive success observed in La Niña conditions. Furthermore, benefits of stronger winds in incubating habitat may explain the higher reproductive success of Laysan albatross during El Niño conditions. Our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat accessibility and cost of travel when evaluating the impacts of climate-driven habitat change on marine predators. © 2016 The Author(s).

Changing fertility patterns and policies in the third world.

Science.gov (United States)

Mcnicoll, G

1992-01-01

Different patterns of fertilty transition are apparent in developing countries. Theories of fertility decline are appropriate because demographic analysis has become situation specific rather than general. Pretransition fertility patterns and the onset of decline are provided. Fertility transition patterns are also supplied, including a regional overview for Latin America, east and Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. The specialized cases of China, India, Bangladesh, Thailand and Indonesia, and Brazil are also presented. The fertility determinant models of Bongaarts, Davis and Blake, Hobcraft and Little, Ryder, and Henry are used as examples of proximate determinant models. Data collection was possible on a grand scale with contraceptive knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP) surveys and the World Fertility Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys. Criticism has focused on the scope of these surveys which provide at best proximate determinants and differentiate fertility by standard socioeconomic factors. Data are also obtained on small populations from piecing together records and from quasi-anthropological fieldwork. Historical demography relies on family reconstitution. Longitudinal studies are few in number. The largest and most effective fieldwork station is at Matlab in Bangladesh. Caldwell has provided anthropological methods applicable to fertility study and makes use of teamwork. In Latin America, fertility has fallen by 40% since the 1960s. Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Haiti have changed very little. Taiwan and South Korea provide examples of economic growth with equity in East and Southeast Asia. In heterogenous South Asia, decline has been slow and uneven. West Asia and North Africa have high fertility with the exception of Egypt which is in the early stages of transition. The smallest declines are found in sub-Saharan Africa, and are complicated by the AIDS epidemic.

The musical brain: brain waves reveal the neurophysiological basis of musicality in human subjects.

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Tervaniemi, M; Ilvonen, T; Karma, K; Alho, K; Näätänen, R

1997-04-18

To reveal neurophysiological prerequisites of musicality, auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded from musical and non-musical subjects, musicality being here defined as the ability to temporally structure auditory information. Instructed to read a book and to ignore sounds, subjects were presented with a repetitive sound pattern with occasional changes in its temporal structure. The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of ERPs, indexing the cortical preattentive detection of change in these stimulus patterns, was larger in amplitude in musical than non-musical subjects. This amplitude enhancement, indicating more accurate sensory memory function in musical subjects, suggests that even the cognitive component of musicality, traditionally regarded as depending on attention-related brain processes, in fact, is based on neural mechanisms present already at the preattentive level.

Changes in Bacterial Resistance Patterns of Pediatric Urinary Tract Infections and Rationale for Empirical Antibiotic Therapy

OpenAIRE

İbrahim Gökçe; Neslihan Çiçek; Serçin Güven; Ülger Altuntaş; Neşe Bıyıklı; Nurdan Yıldız; Harika Alpay

2017-01-01

Background: The causative agent spectrum and resistance patterns of urinary tract infections in children are affected by many factors. Aims: To demonstrate antibiotic resistance in urinary tract infections and changing ratio in antibiotic resistance by years. Study Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study. Methods: We analysed antibiotic resistance patterns of isolated Gram (-) bacteria during the years 2011-2014 (study period 2) in children with urinary tract infections. We...

Changes in gait pattern during multitask using smartphones.

Science.gov (United States)

Jeon, SoYeong; Kim, ChoRong; Song, SunHae; Lee, GyuChang

2015-01-01

With the development of science and technology, smartphones have been deeply involved in people's everyday lives, and many perform various tasks simultaneously on smartphones. To investigate gait pattern changes on performing multitask simultaneously when using smartphones. Three tasks were performed by 26 healthy adults. In the first, participants were directed to walk without using smartphones (single-task). In the second, they were required to walk while finding applications (dual-task). Lastly, in addition to performing the second task, they were asked to listen to questions and answer them on their smartphone (triple-task). Spatiotemporal variables of gait and degree of lateral deviation during walking were measured. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the single-task and dual tasks, as well as between the single task and triple task in all variables (p smartphones in comparison to walking without using smartphones.

Comparative Phylogeography Reveals Cryptic Diversity and Repeated Patterns of Cladogenesis for Amphibians and Reptiles in Northwestern Ecuador.

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Arteaga, Alejandro; Pyron, R Alexander; Peñafiel, Nicolás; Romero-Barreto, Paulina; Culebras, Jaime; Bustamante, Lucas; Yánez-Muñoz, Mario H; Guayasamin, Juan M

2016-01-01

Comparative phylogeography allow us to understand how shared historical circumstances have shaped the formation of lineages, by examining a broad spectrum of co-distributed populations of different taxa. However, these types of studies are scarce in the Neotropics, a region that is characterized by high diversity, complex geology, and poorly understood biogeography. Here, we investigate the diversification patterns of five lineages of amphibians and reptiles, co-distributed across the Choco and Andes ecoregions in northwestern Ecuador. Mitochondrial DNA and occurrence records were used to determine the degree of geographic genetic divergence within species. Our results highlight congruent patterns of parapatric speciation and common geographical barriers for distantly related taxa. These comparisons indicate similar biological and demographic characteristics for the included clades, and reveal the existence of two new species of Pristimantis previously subsumed under P. walkeri, which we describe herein. Our data supports the hypothesis that widely distributed Chocoan taxa may generally experience their greatest opportunities for isolation and parapatric speciation across thermal elevational gradients. Finally, our study provides critical information to predict which unstudied lineages may harbor cryptic diversity, and how geology and climate are likely to have shaped their evolutionary history.

Comparative Phylogeography Reveals Cryptic Diversity and Repeated Patterns of Cladogenesis for Amphibians and Reptiles in Northwestern Ecuador

Science.gov (United States)

Pyron, R. Alexander; Peñafiel, Nicolás; Romero-Barreto, Paulina; Culebras, Jaime; Bustamante, Lucas; Yánez-Muñoz, Mario H.; Guayasamin, Juan M.

2016-01-01

Comparative phylogeography allow us to understand how shared historical circumstances have shaped the formation of lineages, by examining a broad spectrum of co-distributed populations of different taxa. However, these types of studies are scarce in the Neotropics, a region that is characterized by high diversity, complex geology, and poorly understood biogeography. Here, we investigate the diversification patterns of five lineages of amphibians and reptiles, co-distributed across the Choco and Andes ecoregions in northwestern Ecuador. Mitochondrial DNA and occurrence records were used to determine the degree of geographic genetic divergence within species. Our results highlight congruent patterns of parapatric speciation and common geographical barriers for distantly related taxa. These comparisons indicate similar biological and demographic characteristics for the included clades, and reveal the existence of two new species of Pristimantis previously subsumed under P. walkeri, which we describe herein. Our data supports the hypothesis that widely distributed Chocoan taxa may generally experience their greatest opportunities for isolation and parapatric speciation across thermal elevational gradients. Finally, our study provides critical information to predict which unstudied lineages may harbor cryptic diversity, and how geology and climate are likely to have shaped their evolutionary history. PMID:27120100

Spatial patterns and temporal changes in atmospheric-mercury deposition for the midwestern USA, 2001–2016

Science.gov (United States)

Risch, Martin R.; Kenski, Donna M.

2018-01-01

Spatial patterns and temporal changes in atmospheric-mercury (Hg) deposition were examined in a five-state study area in the Midwestern USA where 32% of the stationary sources of anthropogenic Hg emissions in the continental USA were located. An extensive monitoring record for wet and dry Hg deposition was compiled for 2001–2016, including 4666 weekly precipitation samples at 13 sites and 27 annual litterfall-Hg samples at 7 sites. This study is the first to examine these Hg data for the Midwestern USA. The median annual precipitation-Hg deposition at the study sites was 10.4 micrograms per square meter per year (ug/m2/year) and ranged from 5.8 ug/m2/year to 15.0 ug/m2/year. The median annual Hg concentration was 9.4 ng/L. Annual litterfall-Hg deposition had a median of 16.1 ug/m2/year and ranged from 9.7 to 23.4 ug/m2/year. Isopleth maps of annual precipitation-Hg deposition indicated a recurring spatial pattern similar to one revealed by statistical analysis of weekly precipitation-Hg deposition. In that pattern, high Hg deposition in southeastern Indiana was present each year, frequently extending to southern Illinois. Most of central Indiana and central Illinois had similar Hg deposition. Areas with comparatively lower annual Hg deposition were observed in Michigan and Ohio for many years and frequently included part of northern Indiana. The area in southern Indiana where high Hg deposition predominated had the highest number of extreme episodes of weekly Hg deposition delivering up to 15% of the annual Hg load from precipitation in a single week. Modeled 48-h back trajectories indicated air masses for these episodes often arrived from the south and southwest, crossing numerous stationary sources of Hg emissions releasing from 23 to more than 300 kg Hg per year. This analysis suggests that local and regional, rather than exclusively continental or global Hg emissions were likely contributing to the extreme episodes and at least in part, to the spatial

Patterned changes in urge ratings with tic suppression in youth with chronic tic disorders.

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Brabson, Laurel A; Brown, Jessica L; Capriotti, Matthew R; Ramanujam, Krishnapriya; Himle, Michael B; Nicotra, Cassandra M; Ostrander, Rick; Kelly, Laura M; Grados, Marco A; Walkup, John T; Perry-Parrish, Carisa; Reynolds, Elizabeth K; Hankinson, Jessica C; Specht, Matt W

2016-03-01

Premonitory urges are central to emerging behavioral models of chronic tic disorders (CTD). Urge reduction has been proposed as a behavioral explanation for tic maintenance and exacerbation as well as the efficacy of behavioral treatments. Prior investigations have produced inconsistent findings despite common methodologies. The current study evaluated the possibility that data aggregation obscures distinct and meaningful patterns of change in urge ratings when tics are freely expressed versus suppressed. Participants (n = 12) included children with moderate-to-marked tic severity and noticeable premonitory urges. Tic frequencies and urge ratings were obtained at 15 s and 10-s intervals, respectively, across an alternating sequence of 10-min tic freely and 40-min tic suppression conditions. Patterns were established using a two step approach. Five distinct patterns of urge rating change emerged, suggesting data aggregation may obscure meaningful patterns in the urge-tic relationship when tics are completed versus suppressed. Eligibility criteria may have unintentionally excluded younger affected children and included older participants with more severe tic disorders than commonly seen. Additional research with less stringent eligibility criteria and a larger sample size will help validate the results. The relationship between urges and tics is much more complex than previously theorized. Investigations that rely on global assessments of urge and tic severity and/or assume uniformity when aggregating participant data may obscure meaningful differences in the urge-tic relationship. Future investigations should examine the possibility that individual differences and/or developmental considerations modulate the functional urge-tic relationship. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Changes in speckle patterns induced by load application onto an optical fiber and its possible application for sensing purpose

Science.gov (United States)

Hasegawa, Makoto; Okumura, Jyun-ya; Hyuga, Akio

2015-08-01

Speckle patterns to be observed in an output light spot from an optical fiber are known to be changed due to external disturbances applied onto the optical fiber. In order to investigate possibilities of utilizing such changes in speckle patterns for sensing application, a certain load was applied onto a jacket-covered communication-grade multi-mode glass optical fiber through which laser beams emitted from a laser diode were propagating, and observed changes in speckle patterns in the output light spot from the optical fiber were investigated both as image data via a CCD camera and as an output voltage from a photovoltaic panel irradiated with the output light spot. The load was applied via a load application mechanism in which several ridges were provided onto opposite flat plates and a certain number of weights were placed there so that corrugated bending of the optical fiber was intentionally induced via load application due to the ridges. The obtained results showed that the number of speckles in the observed pattern in the output light spot as well as the output voltage from the photovoltaic panel irradiated with the output light spot showed decreases upon load application with relatively satisfactory repeatability. When the load was reduced, i.e., the weights were removed, the number of speckles then showed recovery. These results indicate there is a certain possibility of utilizing changes in speckle patterns for sensing of load application onto the optical fiber.

Trend of cancer risk of Chinese inhabitants to dioxins due to changes in dietary patterns: 1980-2009

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Tao; Jiang, Wanyanhan; Ling, Zaili; Zhao, Yuan; Gao, Hong; Ma, Jianmin

2016-02-01

Food ingestion is a major route for human exposure and body burden to dioxins. We estimated the potential influence of changes in dietary patterns in Chinese population on human health risk to 2,3,7,8-TCDD (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin) over the last three decades. We performed multiple modeling scenario investigations to discriminate the contribution of 2,3,7,8-TCDD emissions and changes in dietary patterns to the cancer risks (CR) to dioxins. Results showed that changes in dietary patterns, featured by decreasing consumption of total grain (including all unprocessed grains) and vegetables and increasing intake of animal-derived foodstuffs, caused increasing CR from 7.3 × 10-8 in 1980 to 1.1 × 10-7 in 2009. Varying dietary patterns contributed 17% to the CR of Chinese population in 2009 under the fixed emission in 1980. The CR to 2,3,7,8-TCDD in urban and eastern China residents was higher considerably than those who lived in rural area and western China, attributable to higher emissions, household income, and greater intake of animal-derived foodstuffs in urban and eastern China inhabitants. On the other hand, more rapid increasing trend of the CR was found in rural residents due to their more rapid increase in the consumption of fat-dominated foods as compared with urban residents.

Abnormal patterns of cerebral lateralisation as revealed by the Universal Chimeric Faces Task in individuals with autistic disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, Sandie; Workman, Lance; Yeomans, Heather

2012-01-01

A previous study by Workman, Chilvers, Yeomans, and Taylor (2006), using the "Universal" Chimeric Faces Task (UCFT) for six emotional expressions, demonstrated that an overall left hemispatial/right hemisphere (RH) advantage has begun to develop by the age of 7-8. Moreover, the development of this left hemispatial advantage was observed to correlate positively with the ability to read emotions in the faces of others. Adopting the UCFT, the current study compared autistic children (11-15) with unimpaired children of two age groups (5-6 and 7-8) from this previous study. The autistic children showed a left hemispatial/RH advantage only for the two emotional expressions of "happiness" and "anger". Results for the autistic children revealed a similar overall pattern of lateralisation to the 5-6-year-olds and one that is less lateralised than the pattern for the 7-8-year-olds. Autistic children appear to show a developmental deficit for left hemispatial/RH advantage for emotional expression with the exception of "happiness" and "anger." The findings are discussed in terms of role hemisphericity and an approach-avoidance model.

Functional redundancy patterns reveal non-random assembly rules in a species-rich marine assemblage.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolas Guillemot

Full Text Available The relationship between species and the functional diversity of assemblages is fundamental in ecology because it contains key information on functional redundancy, and functionally redundant ecosystems are thought to be more resilient, resistant and stable. However, this relationship is poorly understood and undocumented for species-rich coastal marine ecosystems. Here, we used underwater visual censuses to examine the patterns of functional redundancy for one of the most diverse vertebrate assemblages, the coral reef fishes of New Caledonia, South Pacific. First, we found that the relationship between functional and species diversity displayed a non-asymptotic power-shaped curve, implying that rare functions and species mainly occur in highly diverse assemblages. Second, we showed that the distribution of species amongst possible functions was significantly different from a random distribution up to a threshold of ∼90 species/transect. Redundancy patterns for each function further revealed that some functions displayed fast rates of increase in redundancy at low species diversity, whereas others were only becoming redundant past a certain threshold. This suggested non-random assembly rules and the existence of some primordial functions that would need to be fulfilled in priority so that coral reef fish assemblages can gain a basic ecological structure. Last, we found little effect of habitat on the shape of the functional-species diversity relationship and on the redundancy of functions, although habitat is known to largely determine assemblage characteristics such as species composition, biomass, and abundance. Our study shows that low functional redundancy is characteristic of this highly diverse fish assemblage, and, therefore, that even species-rich ecosystems such as coral reefs may be vulnerable to the removal of a few keystone species.

Visual Learning Induces Changes in Resting-State fMRI Multivariate Pattern of Information.

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Guidotti, Roberto; Del Gratta, Cosimo; Baldassarre, Antonello; Romani, Gian Luca; Corbetta, Maurizio

2015-07-08

When measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the resting state (R-fMRI), spontaneous activity is correlated between brain regions that are anatomically and functionally related. Learning and/or task performance can induce modulation of the resting synchronization between brain regions. Moreover, at the neuronal level spontaneous brain activity can replay patterns evoked by a previously presented stimulus. Here we test whether visual learning/task performance can induce a change in the patterns of coded information in R-fMRI signals consistent with a role of spontaneous activity in representing task-relevant information. Human subjects underwent R-fMRI before and after perceptual learning on a novel visual shape orientation discrimination task. Task-evoked fMRI patterns to trained versus novel stimuli were recorded after learning was completed, and before the second R-fMRI session. Using multivariate pattern analysis on task-evoked signals, we found patterns in several cortical regions, as follows: visual cortex, V3/V3A/V7; within the default mode network, precuneus, and inferior parietal lobule; and, within the dorsal attention network, intraparietal sulcus, which discriminated between trained and novel visual stimuli. The accuracy of classification was strongly correlated with behavioral performance. Next, we measured multivariate patterns in R-fMRI signals before and after learning. The frequency and similarity of resting states representing the task/visual stimuli states increased post-learning in the same cortical regions recruited by the task. These findings support a representational role of spontaneous brain activity. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/359786-13$15.00/0.

A comparison of the accuracy of patterns processed from an inlay casting wax, an auto-polymerized resin and a light-cured resin pattern material.

Science.gov (United States)

Rajagopal, Praveen; Chitre, Vidya; Aras, Meena A

2012-01-01

Traditionally, inlay casting waxes have been used to fabricate patterns for castings. Newer resin pattern materials offer greater rigidity and strength, allowing easier laboratory and intraoral adjustment without the fear of pattern damage. They also claim to possess a greater dimensional stability when compared to inlay wax. This study attempted to determine and compare the marginal accuracy of patterns fabricated from an inlay casting wax, an autopolymerized pattern resin and a light polymerized pattern resin on storage off the die for varying time intervals. Ten patterns each were fabricated from an inlay casting wax (GC Corp., Tokyo, Japan), an autopolymerized resin pattern material (Pattern resin, GC Corp, Tokyo, Japan) and a light-cured resin pattern material (Palavit GLC, Hereaus Kulzer GmbH, Germany). The completed patterns were stored off the die at room temperature. Marginal gaps were evaluated by reseating the patterns on their respective dies and observing it under a stereomicroscope at 1, 12, and 24 h intervals after pattern fabrication. The results revealed that the inlay wax showed a significantly greater marginal discrepancy at the 12 and 24 h intervals. The autopolymerized resin showed an initial (at 1 h) marginal discrepancy slightly greater than inlay wax, but showed a significantly less marginal gap (as compared to inlay wax) at the other two time intervals. The light-cured resin proved to be significantly more dimensionally stable, and showed minimal change during the storage period. The resin pattern materials studied, undergo a significantly less dimensional change than the inlay waxes on prolonged storage. They would possibly be a better alternative to inlay wax in situations requiring high precision or when delayed investment (more than 1 h) of patterns can be expected.

Antibiotic-Impregnated Central Venous Catheters Do Not Change Antibiotic Resistance Patterns.

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Turnbull, Isaiah R; Buckman, Sara A; Horn, Christopher B; Bochicchio, Grant V; Mazuski, John E

2018-01-01

Antibiotic-impregnated central venous catheters (CVCs) decrease the incidence of infection in high-risk patients. However, use of these catheters carries the hypothetical risk of inducing antibiotic resistance. We hypothesized that routine use of minocycline and rifampin-impregnated catheters (MR-CVC) in a single intensive care unit (ICU) would change the resistance profile for Staphylococcus aureus. We reviewed antibiotic susceptibilities of S. aureus isolates obtained from blood cultures in a large urban teaching hospital from 2002-2015. Resistance patterns were compared before and after implementation of MR-CVC use in the surgical ICU (SICU) in August 2006. We also compared resistance patterns of S. aureus obtained in other ICUs and in non-ICU patients, in whom MR-CVCs were not used. Data for rifampin, oxacillin, and clindamycin were available for 9,703 cultures; tetracycline resistance data were available for 4,627 cultures. After implementation of MR-CVC use in the SICU, rifampin resistance remained unchanged, with rates the same as in other ICU and non-ICU populations (3%). After six years of use of MR-CVCs in the SICU, the rate of tetracycline resistance was unchanged in all facilities (1%-3%). The use of MR-CVCs was not associated with any change in S. aureus oxacillin-resistance rates in the SICU (66% vs. 60%). However, there was a significant decrease in S. aureus clindamycin resistance (59% vs. 34%; p resistance of S. aureus isolates to rifampin or tetracyclines.

Who’s the Boss? Patterns of Control in Adolescents’ Sibling Relationships

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Tucker, Corinna Jenkins; Updegraff, Kimberly A.; Baril, Megan E.

2011-01-01

The goals of this study were to examine longitudinal changes in perceived control in adolescents’ sibling relationships and to describe the nature and correlates of three distinct control patterns: Firstborn dominant, equal, and secondborn dominant. Firstborn and secondborn adolescents in 184 predominately European-American families participated in home interviews and a series of phone interviews as part of a longitudinal a study of family relationships and adolescent development. Findings revealed changes in control over three years as well as sibling differences. In addition, different patterns of control were linked to qualities of the sibling relationship and to adolescent adjustment. The different roles that firstborn and secondborn siblings assume, and why these roles are linked to relationship experiences and adjustment, are discussed. PMID:21857761

The complexity of organizational change: describing communication during organizational turbulence.

Science.gov (United States)

Salem, Philip

2013-01-01

Organizational researchers and practitioners have been interested in organizational change for some time. Historically, they have directed most of their efforts at improving the efficiency of planned top-down change. These efforts were strategic attempts at altering parameters leading to transformational change. Most efforts failed to meet their intended purposes. Transformational organizational change has not been likely. The legitimate systems have been robust. There has been little systematic investigation of the communication occurring during these efforts. The purpose of this essay is to describe results of a mixed methods research project answering two research questions. (a) How do organizational members communicate during a time of turbulence? (b) What features of this communication suggest the potential for or resistance to transformative change? Comparing the results at the beginning of the period to other periods, gives insight into how social actors communicate and enact the organization during a threshold period where transformational change was possible. Results reveal identifiable patterns of communication as communication strategies, parameters, or basins of attraction. The overall pattern explains how micro communication patterns intersect and how the accumulation of these patterns may resist or accomplish change at a macro level.

Diffuse correlation tomography reveals spatial and temporal difference in blood flow changes among murine femoral grafts

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Songfeng; Proctor, Ashley R.; Benoit, Danielle S. W.; Choe, Regine

2017-07-01

Diffuse correlation tomography was utilized to noninvasively monitor 3D blood flow changes in three types of healing mouse femoral grafts. Results reveal the spatial and temporal difference among the groups.

Checking, Sharing, Clicking and Linking: Changing patterns of news use between 2004 and 2014

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Costera Meijer, I.; Groot Kormelink, T.

2014-01-01

This paper challenges the generally taken-for-granted automatic link between media platforms, media technology and news user practices. It explores what has changed in people’s news consumption by comparing patterns in news use between 2004–2005 and 2011–2014. While new, social and mobile media

Pattern destabilization and emotional processing in cognitive therapy for personality disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Hayes, Adele M; Yasinski, Carly

2015-01-01

Clinical trials of treatments for personality disorders can provide a medium for studying the process of therapeutic change with particularly entrenched and self-perpetuating systems and might reveal important principles of system transition. We examined the extent to which maladaptive personality patterns were destabilized in a trial of cognitive therapy personality disorders (CT-PD) and how destabilization was associated with emotional processing and treatment outcomes. Dynamic systems theory was used as a theoretical framework for studying change. Participants were 27 patients diagnosed with Avoidant or Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (AVPD or OCPD), who completed an open trial of CT-PD. Raters coded treatment sessions using a coding system that operationalizes emotional processing, as well as cognitive, affective, behavioral, and somatic components of pathological (negative) and more adaptive (positive) patterns of functioning. Pattern destabilization (dispersion) scores during the early phase of treatment (phase 1: session 1-10) and the schema-focused phase (phase 2: session 11-34) were calculated using a program called GridWare. More pattern destabilization and emotional processing in the schema-focused phase of CT-PD predicted more improvement in personality disorder symptoms and positive pattern strength at the end of treatment, whereas these variables in phase 1 did not predict outcome. In addition to illustrating a quantitative method for studying destabilization and change of patterns of psychopathology, we present findings that are consistent with recent updates of emotional processing theory and with principles from dynamic systems theory.

Pattern destabilization and emotional processing in cognitive therapy for personality disorders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adele M. Hayes

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Clinical trials of treatments for personality disorders can provide a medium for studying the process of therapeutic change with particularly entrenched and self-perpetuating systems and might reveal important principles of system transition. We examined the extent to which maladaptive personality patterns were destabilized in a trial of cognitive therapy personality disorders (CT-PD and how destabilization was associated with emotional processing and treatment outcomes. Dynamic systems theory was used as a theoretical framework for studying change. Method: Participants were 27 patients diagnosed with Avoidant or Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder, who completed an open trial of CT-PD. Raters coded treatment sessions using a coding system that operationalizes emotional processing, as well as cognitive, affective, behavioral, and somatic components of pathological (negative and more adaptive (positive patterns of functioning. Pattern destabilization (dispersion scores during the early phase of treatment (phase 1: session 1-10 and the schema-focused phase (phase 2: session 11-34 were calculated using a program called GridWare. Results: More pattern destabilization and emotional processing in the schema-focused phase of CT-PD predicted more improvement in personality disorder symptoms and positive pattern strength at the end of treatment, whereas these variables in phase 1 did not predict outcome. Conclusions: In addition to illustrating a quantitative method for studying destabilization and change of patterns of psychopathology, we present findings that are consistent with recent updates of emotional processing theory and with principles from dynamic systems theory.

Changes in spatial patterns of Caragana stenophylla along a climatic drought gradient on the Inner Mongolian Plateau.

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Li-Na; Guo, Hong-Yu; Gabler, Christopher A; Li, Qing-Fang; Ma, Cheng-Cang

2015-01-01

Few studies have investigated the influence of water availability on plant population spatial patterns. We studied changes in the spatial patterns of Caragana stenophylla along a climatic drought gradient within the Inner Mongolian Plateau, China. We examined spatial patterns, seed density, "nurse effects" of shrubs on seedlings, transpiration rates and water use efficiency (WUE) of C. stenophylla across semi-arid, arid, and intensively arid zones. Our results showed that patches of C. stenophylla populations shifted from a random to a clumped spatial pattern towards drier environments. Seed density and seedling survival rate of C. stenophylla decreased from the semi-arid zone to the intensively arid zone. Across the three zones, there were more C. stenophylla seeds and seedlings underneath shrub canopies than outside shrub canopies; and in the intensively arid zone, there were almost no seeds or seedlings outside shrub canopies. Transpiration rates of outer-canopy leaves and WUE of both outer-canopy and inner-canopy leaves increased from the semi-arid zone to the intensively arid zone. In the intensively arid zone, transpiration rates and WUE of inner-canopy leaves were significantly lower and higher, respectively, than those of outer-canopy leaves. We conclude that, as drought stress increased, seed density decreased, seed proportions inside shrubs increased, and "nurse effects" of shrubs on seedlings became more important. These factors, combined with water-saving characteristics associated with clumped spatial patterns, are likely driving the changes in C. stenophylla spatial patterns.

Correlations between human mobility and social interaction reveal general activity patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mollgaard, Anders; Jørgensen, Sune Lehmann; Mathiesen, Joachim

2017-01-01

activity types, namely communication, motion, and physical proximity by analyzing data collected from smartphones distributed among 638 individuals. We explore two central questions: Which underlying principles govern the formation of the activity patterns? Are the patterns specific to each individual...... or shared across the entire population? We find that statistics of the entire population allows us to successfully predict 71% of the activity and 85% of the inactivity involved in communication, mobility, and physical proximity. Surprisingly, individual level statistics only result in marginally better...... they be of social or of physical character....

Temporal changes in spatial patterns of submersed macrophytes in two impounded reaches of the Upper Mississippi River, USA, 1998-2009

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De Jager, Nathan R.; Yin, Yao

2011-01-01

We examined temporal changes in spatial patterns of submersed aquatic macrophytes during a recent three-fold increase in macrophyte abundance and in response to the cumulative effects of management actions (island construction and water level management) and changes in regional environmental conditions (turbidity) in two navigation pools of the Upper Mississippi River, Pool 8 (managed) and Pool 13 (unmanaged). We used cross-correlograms to quantify changes in the degree and range of spatial correlation between submersed macrophytes and depth across the impounded portions of the two pools from 1998-2009. Along with increases in abundance, we observed gradual expansion of submersed macrophytes into deeper water in both pools. However, we detected no temporal change in spatial patterns in Pool 13, where the range of spatial correlation was ~ 1500-2500 m in length in the downriver direction and ~ 500-1000 m in length in the crossriver direction. We initially detected similar ranges of spatial correlation in Pool 8, but over time the range of correlation in the cross river direction increased from ~ 500 m in 1998 to ~ 2000 m by 2009. Thus, the expansion of submersed macrophytes into deeper water areas in Pool 8 appears to have occurred in the cross-river direction and led to increases in patch size and a more symmetrical patch configuration. Hence, very similar temporal changes in submersed macrophyte abundance corresponded with different diffusion dynamics and spatial patterns in the two pools. We hypothesize that management actions altered spatial patterns of depth, water flow and/or wind fetch and led to the differences in spatial patterns reported here.

Seasonal and Diel Activity Patterns of Eight Sympatric Mammals in Northern Japan Revealed by an Intensive Camera-Trap Survey.

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Takashi Ikeda

Full Text Available The activity patterns of mammals are generally categorized as nocturnal, diurnal, crepuscular (active at twilight, and cathemeral (active throughout the day. These patterns are highly variable across regions and seasons even within the same species. However, quantitative data is still lacking, particularly for sympatric species. We monitored the seasonal and diel activity patterns of terrestrial mammals in Hokkaido, Japan. Through an intensive camera-trap survey a total of 13,279 capture events were recorded from eight mammals over 20,344 camera-trap days, i.e., two years. Diel activity patterns were clearly divided into four categories: diurnal (Eurasian red squirrels, nocturnal (raccoon dogs and raccoons, crepuscular (sika deer and mountain hares, and cathemeral (Japanese martens, red foxes, and brown bears. Some crepuscular and cathemeral mammals shifted activity peaks across seasons. Particularly, sika deer changed peaks from twilight during spring-autumn to day-time in winter, possibly because of thermal constraints. Japanese martens were cathemeral during winter-summer, but nocturnal in autumn. We found no clear indication of predator-prey and competitive interactions, suggesting that animal densities are not very high or temporal niche partitioning is absent among the target species. This long-term camera-trap survey was highly cost-effective and provided one of the most detailed seasonal and diel activity patterns in multiple sympatric mammals under natural conditions.

Binge-pattern alcohol exposure during puberty induces long-term changes in HPA axis reactivity.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Magdalena M Przybycien-Szymanska

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Adolescence is a dynamic and important period of brain development however, little is known about the long-term neurobiological consequences of alcohol consumption during puberty. Our previous studies showed that binge-pattern ethanol (EtOH treatment during pubertal development negatively dysregulated the responsiveness of the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA axis, as manifested by alterations in corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH, arginine vasopressin (AVP, and corticosterone (CORT during this time period. Thus, the primary goal of this study was to determine whether these observed changes in important central regulators of the stress response were permanent or transient. In this study, juvenile male Wistar rats were treated with a binge-pattern EtOH treatment paradigm or saline alone for 8 days. The animals were left undisturbed until adulthood when they received a second round of treatments consisting of saline alone, a single dose of EtOH, or a second binge-pattern treatment paradigm. The results showed that pubertal binge-pattern EtOH exposure induced striking long-lasting alterations of many HPA axis parameters. Overall, our data provide strong evidence that binge-pattern EtOH exposure during pubertal maturation has long-term detrimental effects for the healthy development of the HPA axis.

Shift of biome patterns due to simulated climate variability and climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Claussen, M.

1993-01-01

The variability of simulated equilibrium-response patterns of biomes caused by simulated climate variability and climate shift is analysed. This investigation is based on various realisations of simulated present-day climate and climate shift. It has been found that the difference between biomes computed from three 10-year climatologies and from the corresponding 30-year climatology, simulated by the Hamburg climate model at T21 resolution, amounts to approximately 6% of the total land area, Antarctica excluded. This difference is mainly due to differences in annual moisture availability and winter temperatures. When intercomparing biomes from the 10-year climatologies a 10% difference is seen, but there is no unique difference pattern. In contrast to the interdecadal variability, the shift of conditions favorable for biomes due to a shift in climate in the next 100 years, caused by an increase in sea-surface temperatures and atmospheric CO 2 , reveals a unique trend pattern. It turns out that the strongest and most significant signal is the north-east shift of conditions for boreal biomes. This signal is caused by an increase of annual temperature sums as well as mean temperatures of the coldest and warmest months. Trends in annual moisture availability are of secondary importance globally. Regionally, a decrease in water availability affects biomes in Central and East Europe and an increase of water availability leads to a potential increase in tropical rain forest. In total, all differences amount to roughly 30% of the total land surface, Antarctica excluded. (orig./KW)

Assessing rates of forest change and fragmentation in Alabama, USA, using the vegetation change tracker model

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Li, Mingshi; Huang, Chengquan; Zhu, Zhiliang; Shi, Hua; Lu, Heng; Peng, Shikui

2009-01-01

Forest change is of great concern for land use decision makers and conservation communities. Quantitative and spatial forest change information is critical for addressing many pressing issues, including global climate change, carbon budgets, and sustainability. In this study, our analysis focuses on the differences in geospatial patterns and their changes between federal forests and nonfederal forests in Alabama over the time period 1987–2005, by interpreting 163 Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) scenes using a vegetation change tracker (VCT) model. Our analysis revealed that for the most part of 1990 s and between 2000 and 2005, Alabama lost about 2% of its forest on an annual basis due to disturbances, but much of the losses were balanced by forest regeneration from previous disturbances. The disturbance maps revealed that federal forests were reasonably well protected, with the fragmentation remaining relatively stable over time. In contrast, nonfederal forests, which are predominant in area share (about 95%), were heavily disturbed, clearly demonstrating decreasing levels of fragmentation during the time period 1987–1993 giving way to a subsequent accelerating fragmentation during the time period 1994–2005. Additionally, the identification of the statistical relationships between forest fragmentation status and forest loss rate and forest net change rate in relation to land ownership implied the distinct differences in forest cutting rate and cutting patterns between federal forests and nonfederal forests. The forest spatial change information derived from the model has provided valuable insights regarding regional forest management practices and disturbance regimes, which are closely associated with regional economics and environmental concerns.

Eco-innovation Dynamics and Green Economic Change: the role of sectoral-specific patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Maj Munch; Faria, Lourenco

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the features of Green Economic Change process at the meso-level, the greening of industries. We posit that, as for “traditional” innovations, it is possible to identify sectoral eco-innovation patterns and that these represent key but neglected factors in the dynamics...... of green economic evolution. . The paper represents early speculative conceptual work. We have posited that, as for “general” innovations, it is possible to identify sectoral eco-innovation patterns and that these represent key but neglected factors in the dynamics of green economic chance. The paper...... identifies seven specific characteristics of eco-innovation which form the basis for identifying 4 core hypothesis which may explain sectoral heterogeneity and identify likely sectoral eco-innovation leaders....

Proteomic Analysis of Lysine Acetylation Sites in Rat Tissues Reveals Organ Specificity and Subcellular Patterns

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Alicia Lundby

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Lysine acetylation is a major posttranslational modification involved in a broad array of physiological functions. Here, we provide an organ-wide map of lysine acetylation sites from 16 rat tissues analyzed by high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry. We quantify 15,474 modification sites on 4,541 proteins and provide the data set as a web-based database. We demonstrate that lysine acetylation displays site-specific sequence motifs that diverge between cellular compartments, with a significant fraction of nuclear sites conforming to the consensus motifs G-AcK and AcK-P. Our data set reveals that the subcellular acetylation distribution is tissue-type dependent and that acetylation targets tissue-specific pathways involved in fundamental physiological processes. We compare lysine acetylation patterns for rat as well as human skeletal muscle biopsies and demonstrate its general involvement in muscle contraction. Furthermore, we illustrate that acetylation of fructose-bisphosphate aldolase and glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase serves as a cellular mechanism to switch off enzymatic activity.

HISTORICAL PATTERNS OF HABITAT CHANGES AND GENETIC DIVERGENCE IN THE DESERT AND SHORT HORNED LIZARDS

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Historical environmental change is thought to have played an important role in the diversification of the biota of western North America. Many patterns of diversification have been associated with glacial-interglacial cycles of the latest Pleistocene. To evaluate the relativ...

Recent Changes in Tree Species Abundance: Patterns, Trends, and Drivers Across Northeastern US Forests

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Gudex-Cross, D.; Pontius, J.; Adams, A.

2017-12-01

Monitoring trends in the abundance and distribution of tree species is essential to understanding potential impacts of climate change on forested ecosystems. Related studies to date have largely focused on modeling distributional shifts according to future climate scenarios or used field inventory data to examine compositional changes across broader landscapes. Here, we leverage a novel remote sensing technique that utilizes field data, multitemporal Landsat imagery, and spectral unmixing to model regional changes in the abundance (percent basal area) of key northeastern US species over a 30-year period (1985-2015). We examine patterns in how species abundance has changed, as well as their relationship with climate, landscape, and soil characteristics using spatial regression models. Results show significant declines in overall abundance for sugar maple ( 8.6% 30-yr loss), eastern hemlock ( 7.8% 30-yr loss), balsam fir ( 5.0% 30-yr loss), and red spruce ( 3.8% total 30-yr loss). Species that saw significant increasing abundance include American beech ( 7.0% 30-yr gain) and red maple ( 2.5% 30-yr gain). However, these changes were not consistent across the landscape. For example, red spruce is increasing at upper elevations with concurrent losses in balsam fir and birch species. Similarly, sugar maple decreases are concentrated at lower elevations, likely due to increases in American beech. Various abiotic factors were significantly associated with changes in species composition including landscape position (e.g. longitude, elevation, and heat load index) and ecologically-relevant climate variables (e.g. growing season precipitation and annual temperature range). Interestingly, there was a stronger relationship in abundance changes across longitudes, rather than latitudes or elevations as predicted in modeled species migration scenarios.These results indicate that the dominant composition of northeastern forests is changing in ways that run counter to accepted

Biological invasion hotspots: a trait-based perspective reveals new sub-continental patterns

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Basil V. Iannone III; Kevin M. Potter; Qinfeng Guo; Andrew M. Liebhold; Bryan C. Pijanowski; Christopher M. Oswalt; Songlin Fei

2015-01-01

Invader traits (including plant growth form) may play an important, and perhaps overlooked, role in determining macroscale patterns of biological invasions and therefore warrant greater consideration in future investigations aimed at understanding these patterns. To assess this need, we used empirical data from a national-level survey of forest in the contiguous 48...

Ecological studies of Eastern Australian fruit flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in their endemic habitat : II. The spatial pattern of abundance.

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Zalucki, M P; Drew, R A I; Hooper, G H S

1984-10-01

11 fruit fly species captured at 47 sites in a natural forest area at Cooloola (south-east Queensland) revealed specific patterns of spatial abundance. Although all species were collected throughout the study area, D. bryoniae, D. mayi, D. neohumeralis and D. tryoni were more prevalent (average number caught per trap) in the open Eucalypt forest than the rainforest, whereas C. aequalis, D. absonifacies and D. endiandrae were more prevalent in the rainforest. D. cacuminatus, D. choristus, D. quadratus and D. signatifrons were equally prevalent throughout both forest types. Fly numbers were not distributed randomly throughout the trap sites. The clumped dispersion patterns seemed to be species specific as assessed and summarised by Taylor's Power Law. The exponent (b) relating mean spatial abundance to its variance ranged from 1.6-5.11 for the 11 species captured. Changing patterns of trap catches from one sampling period to another were analysed using correlograms for the 6 most abundant species (D. tryoni, D. neohumeralis, D. endiandrae, C. aequalis, D. cacuminatus and D. mayi). These revealed changing patterns of relative spatial abundance which can be related, in part, to changing population abundance levels. The various spatial patterns recognised are related to each species movement, breeding and feeding behaviour. It is proposed that flies migrate into the rainforest area from distant locations and that the rainforest habitat is an important adult feeding site.

Macroscale patterns in body size of intertidal crustaceans provide insights on climate change effects

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Dugan, Jenifer E.; Hubbard, David M.; Contreras, Heraldo; Duarte, Cristian; Acuña, Emilio; Schoeman, David S.

2017-01-01

Predicting responses of coastal ecosystems to altered sea surface temperatures (SST) associated with global climate change, requires knowledge of demographic responses of individual species. Body size is an excellent metric because it scales strongly with growth and fecundity for many ectotherms. These attributes can underpin demographic as well as community and ecosystem level processes, providing valuable insights for responses of vulnerable coastal ecosystems to changing climate. We investigated contemporary macroscale patterns in body size among widely distributed crustaceans that comprise the majority of intertidal abundance and biomass of sandy beach ecosystems of the eastern Pacific coasts of Chile and California, USA. We focused on ecologically important species representing different tidal zones, trophic guilds and developmental modes, including a high-shore macroalga-consuming talitrid amphipod (Orchestoidea tuberculata), two mid-shore scavenging cirolanid isopods (Excirolana braziliensis and E. hirsuticauda), and a low-shore suspension-feeding hippid crab (Emerita analoga) with an amphitropical distribution. Significant latitudinal patterns in body sizes were observed for all species in Chile (21° - 42°S), with similar but steeper patterns in Emerita analoga, in California (32°- 41°N). Sea surface temperature was a strong predictor of body size (-4% to -35% °C-1) in all species. Beach characteristics were subsidiary predictors of body size. Alterations in ocean temperatures of even a few degrees associated with global climate change are likely to affect body sizes of important intertidal ectotherms, with consequences for population demography, life history, community structure, trophic interactions, food-webs, and indirect effects such as ecosystem function. The consistency of results for body size and temperature across species with different life histories, feeding modes, ecological roles, and microhabitats inhabiting a single widespread coastal

Foot strike patterns after obstacle clearance during running.

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Scholten, Shane D; Stergiou, Nicholas; Hreljac, Alan; Houser, Jeremy; Blanke, Daniel; Alberts, L Russell

2002-01-01

Running over obstacles of sufficient height requires heel strike (HS) runners to make a transition in landing strategy to a forefoot (FF) strike, resulting in similar ground reaction force patterns to those observed while landing from a jump. Identification of the biomechanical variables that distinguish between the landing strategies may offer some insight into the reasons that the transition occurs. The purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in foot strike patterns and kinetic parameters of heel strike runners between level running and running over obstacles of various heights. Ten heel strike subjects ran at their self-selected pace under seven different conditions: unperturbed running (no obstacle) and over obstacles of six different heights (10%, 12.5%, 15%, 17.5%, 20%, and 22.5% of their standing height). The obstacle was placed directly before a Kistler force platform. Repeated measures ANOVAs were performed on the subject means of selected kinetic parameters. The statistical analysis revealed significant differences (P strike patterns were affected by the increased obstacle height. Between the 12.5% and 15% obstacle conditions, the group response changed from a heel strike to a forefoot strike pattern. At height > 15%, the pattern was more closely related to the foot strike patterns found in jumping activities. This strategy change may represent a gait transition effected as a mechanism to protect against increased impact forces. Greater involvement of the ankle and the calf muscles could have assisted in attenuating the increased impact forces while maintaining speed after clearing the obstacle.

Between-Word Simplification Patterns in the Continuous Speech of Children with Speech Sound Disorders

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Klein, Harriet B.; Liu-Shea, May

2009-01-01

Purpose: This study was designed to identify and describe between-word simplification patterns in the continuous speech of children with speech sound disorders. It was hypothesized that word combinations would reveal phonological changes that were unobserved with single words, possibly accounting for discrepancies between the intelligibility of…

Spatial-temporal changes of maximum and minimum temperatures in the Wei River Basin, China: Changing patterns, causes and implications

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Liu, Saiyan; Huang, Shengzhi; Xie, Yangyang; Huang, Qiang; Leng, Guoyong; Hou, Beibei; Zhang, Ying; Wei, Xiu

2018-05-01

Due to the important role of temperature in the global climate system and energy cycles, it is important to investigate the spatial-temporal change patterns, causes and implications of annual maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) temperatures. In this study, the Cloud model were adopted to fully and accurately analyze the changing patterns of annual Tmax and Tmin from 1958 to 2008 by quantifying their mean, uniformity, and stability in the Wei River Basin (WRB), a typical arid and semi-arid region in China. Additionally, the cross wavelet analysis was applied to explore the correlations among annual Tmax and Tmin and the yearly sunspots number, Arctic Oscillation, Pacific Decadal Oscillation, and soil moisture with an aim to determine possible causes of annual Tmax and Tmin variations. Furthermore, temperature-related impacts on vegetation cover and precipitation extremes were also examined. Results indicated that: (1) the WRB is characterized by increasing trends in annual Tmax and Tmin, with a more evident increasing trend in annual Tmin, which has a higher dispersion degree and is less uniform and stable than annual Tmax; (2) the asymmetric variations of Tmax and Tmin can be generally explained by the stronger effects of solar activity (primarily), large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns, and soil moisture on annual Tmin than on annual Tmax; and (3) increasing annual Tmax and Tmin have exerted strong influences on local precipitation extremes, in terms of their duration, intensity, and frequency in the WRB. This study presents new analyses of Tmax and Tmin in the WRB, and the findings may help guide regional agricultural production and water resources management.

Changes in rainfall patterns in Mediterranean ecosystems: the MIND project

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Papale D

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Will Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems be affected by the expected changes in precipitation regimes? If so, by how much and in which direction? These questions are at the basis of the research performed in context of the EU MIND project, whose key objectives were: i to investigate the potential effects of increasing drought on Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems at the process, ecosystem and regional scales and ii to assess ecosystem vulnerability to changes in rainfall patterns. A network of experimental study sites has been created in Portugal, Spain, France and Italy, where field manipulations alter the amount of water available to the ecosystem. The most up-to-date methods of ecophysiology, micrometeorology, soil ecology and remote sensing have been used to elucidate the mechanisms that regulate the response of vegetation and soil to changes in water availability. This information is providing the basis for the implementation and validation of simulation models capable of predicting the drought response of Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems, and their vulnerability to future climate change, on a larger scale. The out-coming results are elucidating how water availability affects plant ecophysiological processes, the dynamics of soil carbon and the overall exchange of mass and energy between the land and the atmosphere. This paper focuses on some of the important, yet preliminary, results on C and energy fluxes that have been obtained at the large scale troughfall manipulation experiment (Tolfa, Italy, in a forest dominated by Arbutus unedo L.

Machine learning methods reveal the temporal pattern of dengue incidence using meteorological factors in metropolitan Manila, Philippines.

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Carvajal, Thaddeus M; Viacrusis, Katherine M; Hernandez, Lara Fides T; Ho, Howell T; Amalin, Divina M; Watanabe, Kozo

2018-04-17

Several studies have applied ecological factors such as meteorological variables to develop models and accurately predict the temporal pattern of dengue incidence or occurrence. With the vast amount of studies that investigated this premise, the modeling approaches differ from each study and only use a single statistical technique. It raises the question of whether which technique would be robust and reliable. Hence, our study aims to compare the predictive accuracy of the temporal pattern of Dengue incidence in Metropolitan Manila as influenced by meteorological factors from four modeling techniques, (a) General Additive Modeling, (b) Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with exogenous variables (c) Random Forest and (d) Gradient Boosting. Dengue incidence and meteorological data (flood, precipitation, temperature, southern oscillation index, relative humidity, wind speed and direction) of Metropolitan Manila from January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2013 were obtained from respective government agencies. Two types of datasets were used in the analysis; observed meteorological factors (MF) and its corresponding delayed or lagged effect (LG). After which, these datasets were subjected to the four modeling techniques. The predictive accuracy and variable importance of each modeling technique were calculated and evaluated. Among the statistical modeling techniques, Random Forest showed the best predictive accuracy. Moreover, the delayed or lag effects of the meteorological variables was shown to be the best dataset to use for such purpose. Thus, the model of Random Forest with delayed meteorological effects (RF-LG) was deemed the best among all assessed models. Relative humidity was shown to be the top-most important meteorological factor in the best model. The study exhibited that there are indeed different predictive outcomes generated from each statistical modeling technique and it further revealed that the Random forest model with delayed meteorological

Temporal motifs reveal collaboration patterns in online task-oriented networks

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Xuan, Qi; Fang, Huiting; Fu, Chenbo; Filkov, Vladimir

2015-05-01

Real networks feature layers of interactions and complexity. In them, different types of nodes can interact with each other via a variety of events. Examples of this complexity are task-oriented social networks (TOSNs), where teams of people share tasks towards creating a quality artifact, such as academic research papers or software development in commercial or open source environments. Accomplishing those tasks involves both work, e.g., writing the papers or code, and communication, to discuss and coordinate. Taking into account the different types of activities and how they alternate over time can result in much more precise understanding of the TOSNs behaviors and outcomes. That calls for modeling techniques that can accommodate both node and link heterogeneity as well as temporal change. In this paper, we report on methodology for finding temporal motifs in TOSNs, limited to a system of two people and an artifact. We apply the methods to publicly available data of TOSNs from 31 Open Source Software projects. We find that these temporal motifs are enriched in the observed data. When applied to software development outcome, temporal motifs reveal a distinct dependency between collaboration and communication in the code writing process. Moreover, we show that models based on temporal motifs can be used to more precisely relate both individual developer centrality and team cohesion to programmer productivity than models based on aggregated TOSNs.

Expression and distribution patterns of Mas-related gene receptor subtypes A-H in the mouse intestine: inflammation-induced changes.

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Avula, Leela Rani; Buckinx, Roeland; Favoreel, Herman; Cox, Eric; Adriaensen, Dirk; Van Nassauw, Luc; Timmermans, Jean-Pierre

2013-05-01

Mas-related gene (Mrg) receptors constitute a subfamily of G protein-coupled receptors that are implicated in nociception, and are as such considered potential targets for pain therapies. Furthermore, some Mrgs have been suggested to play roles in the regulation of inflammatory responses to non-immunological activation of mast cells and in mast cell-neuron communication. Except for MrgD, E and F, whose changed expression has been revealed during inflammation in the mouse intestine in our earlier studies, information concerning the remaining cloned mouse Mrg subtypes in the gastrointestinal tract during (patho) physiological conditions is lacking. Therefore, the present study aimed at identifying the presence and putative function of these remaining cloned Mrg subtypes (n = 19) in the (inflamed) mouse intestine. Using reverse transcriptase-PCR, quantitative-PCR and multiple immunofluorescence staining with commercial and newly custom-developed antibodies, we compared the ileum and the related dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of non-inflamed mice with those of two models of intestinal inflammation, i.e., intestinal schistosomiasis and 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced ileitis. In the non-inflamed ileum and DRG, the majority of the Mrg subtypes examined were sparsely expressed, showing a neuron-specific expression pattern. However, significant changes in the expression patterns of multiple Mrg subtypes were observed in the inflamed ileum; for instance, MrgA4, MrgB2and MrgB8 were expressed in a clearly increased number of enteric sensory neurons and in nerve fibers in the lamina propria, while de novo expression of MrgB10 was observed in enteric sensory neurons and in newly recruited mucosal mast cells (MMCs). The MrgB10 expressing MMCs were found to be in close contact with nerve fibers in the lamina propria. This is the first report on the expression of all cloned Mrg receptor subtypes in the (inflamed) mouse intestine. The observed changes in the expression and

Pattern of structural brain changes in social anxiety disorder after cognitive behavioral group therapy: a longitudinal multimodal MRI study.

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Steiger, V R; Brühl, A B; Weidt, S; Delsignore, A; Rufer, M; Jäncke, L; Herwig, U; Hänggi, J

2017-08-01

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is characterized by fears of social and performance situations. Cognitive behavioral group therapy (CBGT) has in general positive effects on symptoms, distress and avoidance in SAD. Prior studies found increased cortical volumes and decreased fractional anisotropy (FA) in SAD compared with healthy controls (HCs). Thirty-three participants diagnosed with SAD attended in a 10-week CBGT and were scanned before and after therapy. We applied three neuroimaging methods-surface-based morphometry, diffusion tensor imaging and network-based statistics-each with specific longitudinal processing protocols, to investigate CBGT-induced structural brain alterations of the gray and white matter (WM). Surface-based morphometry revealed a significant cortical volume reduction (pre- to post-treatment) in the left inferior parietal cortex, as well as a positive partial correlation between treatment success (indexed by reductions in Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale) and reductions in cortical volume in bilateral dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Diffusion tensor imaging analysis revealed a significant increase in FA in bilateral uncinate fasciculus and right inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Network-based statistics revealed a significant increase of structural connectivity in a frontolimbic network. No partial correlations with treatment success have been found in WM analyses. For, we believe, the first time, we present a distinctive pattern of longitudinal structural brain changes after CBGT measured with three established magnetic resonance imaging analyzing techniques. Our findings are in line with previous cross-sectional, unimodal SAD studies and extent them by highlighting anatomical brain alterations that point toward the level of HCs in parallel with a reduction in SAD symptomatology.

Herbarium specimens reveal the footprint of climate change on flowering trends across north-central North America.

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Calinger, Kellen M; Queenborough, Simon; Curtis, Peter S

2013-08-01

Shifting flowering phenology with rising temperatures is occurring worldwide, but the rarity of co-occurring long-term observational and temperature records has hindered the evaluation of phenological responsiveness in many species and across large spatial scales. We used herbarium specimens combined with historic temperature data to examine the impact of climate change on flowering trends in 141 species collected across 116,000 km(2) in north-central North America. On average, date of maximum flowering advanced 2.4 days °C(-1), although species-specific responses varied from - 13.5 to + 7.3 days °C(-1). Plant functional types exhibited distinct patterns of phenological responsiveness with significant differences between native and introduced species, among flowering seasons, and between wind- and biotically pollinated species. This study is the first to assess large-scale patterns of phenological responsiveness with broad species representation and is an important step towards understanding current and future impacts of climate change on species performance and biodiversity. © 2013 The Authors. Ecology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd and CNRS.

Somatosensory BOLD fMRI reveals close link between salient blood pressure changes and the murine neuromatrix.

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Reimann, Henning Matthias; Todiras, Mihail; Hodge, Russ; Huelnhagen, Till; Millward, Jason Michael; Turner, Robert; Seeliger, Erdmann; Bader, Michael; Pohlmann, Andreas; Niendorf, Thoralf

2018-05-15

The neuromatrix, or "pain matrix", is a network of cortical brain areas which is activated by noxious as well as salient somatosensory stimulation. This has been studied in mice and humans using blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI. Here we demonstrate that BOLD effects observed in the murine neuromatrix in response to salient somatosensory stimuli are prone to reflect mean arterial blood pressure (MABP) changes, rather than neural activity. We show that a standard electrostimulus typically used in murine somatosensory fMRI can induce substantial elevations in MABP. Equivalent drug-induced MABP changes - without somatosensory stimulation - evoked BOLD patterns in the neuromatrix strikingly similar to those evoked by electrostimulation. This constitutes a serious caveat for murine fMRI. The regional specificity of these BOLD patterns can be attributed to the co-localization of the neuromatrix with large draining veins. Based on these findings we propose a cardiovascular support mechanism whereby abrupt elevations in MABP provide additional energy supply to the neuromatrix and other essential brain areas in fight-or-flight situations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Changing patterns of clinical PET use - 5 years on

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Binns, D.; Hicks, R.J.

2002-01-01

Full text: Increasing clinical awareness and acceptance of the clinical role of positron emission tomography (PET) has the potential to alter patterns of referral. To assess whether patterns of referral are changing in response to greater experience with this technique, we reviewed indications of new referrals to our facility for each of the past 5 years of operation. Of more than 6,183 studies performed since our facility began operation in September 1996, 4,401 were initial referrals. Of these referrals the most common indications were carcinoma of the lung (n = 970, 22.0 %), colorectal cancer (n = 631, 14.3 %), malignant melanoma (n = 506, 11.5 %), genito-urinary tract cancer (n = 427, 9.7 %), epilepsy (n = 366, 8.3 %), and lymphoma (n = 351, 8.0 %). Referrals for all these indications, other than malignant melanoma, continued to grow in absolute terms throughout the 5 year interval but in relative terms only lung cancer maintained a similar proportion of scans reflecting an expansion of other referral indications. Evaluation of intractable partial complex seizures demonstrated the most marked growth in both absolute and relative terms. Conversely, malignant melanoma referrals declined as patients with thick melanoma began to have sentinel lymph node biopsy rather than PET as their initial staging investigation. Our experience suggests that clinical PET referrals reflect the expanding evidence-base regarding both the strengths and weaknesses of PET. Copyright (2002) The Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine Inc

Breathing pattern and head posture: changes in craniocervical angles.

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Sabatucci, A; Raffaeli, F; Mastrovincenzo, M; Luchetta, A; Giannone, A; Ciavarella, D

2015-04-01

The aim of this study was to observe the influence of oral breathing on head posture and to establish possible postural changes observing the variation of craniocervical angles NSL/OPT and NSL/CVT between oral breathing subjects and physiological breathing subjects. A cross-sectional study was conducted. The sample included 115 subject, 56 boys and 59 girls, 5-22-year-old. Among these, 80 were classified as oral breathers and 35 as physiological breathers. The diagnosis of oral breathing was carried out thanks to characteristic signs and symptoms evaluated on clinical examination, the analysis of characteristic X-ray images, ENT examination with active anterior rhinomanometric (AAR) test. The structural and postural analysis was carried out, calculating the craniofacial angles NSL/OPT and NSL/CVT. Both NSL/OPT and NSL/CVT appear to be significantly greater to those observed in physiological breathing patients. This means that patients who tend to breathe through the mouth rather than exclusively through the nose show a reduction of cervical lordosis and a proinclination of the head. Our study confirms that the oral breathing modifies head position. The significant increase of the craniocervical angles NSL/OPT and NSL/CVT in patients with this altered breathing pattern suggests an elevation of the head and a greater extension of the head compared with the cervical spine. So, to correct the breathing pattern early, either during childhood or during adolescence, can lead to a progressive normalization of craniofacial morphology and head posture.

Changes in the pattern of substance abuse after the onset of psychosis.

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Kaiser, Roland; Löhrer, Frank; Morgan, Vera; Hambrecht, Martin

2005-06-01

The aim of this study was to examine early signs of psychosis in patients suffering from both drug dependence and schizophrenia, compared to a control group of drug-addicted patients without a comorbid psychotic disorder, and to assess whether the presence of these signs was related to changes in the pattern of substance abuse. In a rehabilitation hospital for young addicts, 32 patients with a comorbid diagnosis of schizophrenia and 30 patients without the diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, were assessed using the Interview for the Retrospective Assessment of the Onset of Schizophrenia. Information relating to 64 signs of early psychosis was collected from every patient. From the 64 signs, five groups of symptoms were defined: non-specific and precursor symptoms; non-specific and depressive symptoms; negative symptoms; positive symptoms; and impaired social adjustment. The semiquantitative pattern of substance abuse for each 1-year interval over the previous 10 years was investigated using the categories of chapter F1 of ICD-10 and including an additional category "biological drugs". The relationship between the pattern of substance abuse and the presence of early signs was assessed using anova and non-parametric statistical methods. The results indicate that the defined pathological symptomatology greatly influences the pattern of consumption of psychoactive substances in both the psychosis group and the control group. The group factor exerted the greatest influence within the categories "biological drugs" and "other stimulants", where the "psychosis and addiction group" consumed significantly more than the control group. There is a subgroup of non-psychotic addicted patients whose pattern of psychoactive substance abuse is similar to that found in addicted patients suffering from schizophrenia. It may be helpful to systematically identify this subgroup with regard to possible therapeutic implications, particularly with regard to possible pharmacological treatment

Survey on how fluctuating petrol prices are affecting Malaysian large city dwellers in changing their trip patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Rohani, M. M.; Pahazri, N.

2018-04-01

Rising fuel prices shocks have a significant impact on the way of life of most Malaysians. Due to the rising of oil prices, the costs of travel for private vehicle users are therefore increasing. The study was conducted based on the objective of studying the impact of rising fuel prices on three types of trip patterns of Malaysians who are living in the city areas. The three types of trip patterns are, workplaces trip, leisure trip and personal purposes trip during the weekdays. This study was conducted by distributing questionnaires to respondents of private vehicle users in selected city such as Johor Bahru, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Melaka, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan. This study, found that the trip patterns of those who were using their own vehicles had changed after the rising of fuel prices. The changes showed that many private vehicle users were taking steps to save money on petrol by adjusting their trips.

The Dependencies of Ecosystem Pattern, Structure, and Dynamics on Climate, Climate Variability, and Climate Change

Science.gov (United States)

Flanagan, S.; Hurtt, G. C.; Fisk, J. P.; Rourke, O.

2012-12-01

A robust understanding of the sensitivity of the pattern, structure, and dynamics of ecosystems to climate, climate variability, and climate change is needed to predict ecosystem responses to current and projected climate change. We present results of a study designed to first quantify the sensitivity of ecosystems to climate through the use of climate and ecosystem data, and then use the results to test the sensitivity of the climate data in a state-of the art ecosystem model. A database of available ecosystem characteristics such as mean canopy height, above ground biomass, and basal area was constructed from sources like the National Biomass and Carbon Dataset (NBCD). The ecosystem characteristics were then paired by latitude and longitude with the corresponding climate characteristics temperature, precipitation, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) and dew point that were retrieved from the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR). The average yearly and seasonal means of the climate data, and their associated maximum and minimum values, over the 1979-2010 time frame provided by NARR were constructed and paired with the ecosystem data. The compiled results provide natural patterns of vegetation structure and distribution with regard to climate data. An advanced ecosystem model, the Ecosystem Demography model (ED), was then modified to allow yearly alterations to its mechanistic climate lookup table and used to predict the sensitivities of ecosystem pattern, structure, and dynamics to climate data. The combined ecosystem structure and climate data results were compared to ED's output to check the validity of the model. After verification, climate change scenarios such as those used in the last IPCC were run and future forest structure changes due to climate sensitivities were identified. The results of this study can be used to both quantify and test key relationships for next generation models. The sensitivity of ecosystem characteristics to climate data

Citizen science reveals unexpected continental-scale evolutionary change in a model organism.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan Silvertown

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Organisms provide some of the most sensitive indicators of climate change and evolutionary responses are becoming apparent in species with short generation times. Large datasets on genetic polymorphism that can provide an historical benchmark against which to test for recent evolutionary responses are very rare, but an exception is found in the brown-lipped banded snail (Cepaea nemoralis. This species is sensitive to its thermal environment and exhibits several polymorphisms of shell colour and banding pattern affecting shell albedo in the majority of populations within its native range in Europe. We tested for evolutionary changes in shell albedo that might have been driven by the warming of the climate in Europe over the last half century by compiling an historical dataset for 6,515 native populations of C. nemoralis and comparing this with new data on nearly 3,000 populations. The new data were sampled mainly in 2009 through the Evolution MegaLab, a citizen science project that engaged thousands of volunteers in 15 countries throughout Europe in the biggest such exercise ever undertaken. A known geographic cline in the frequency of the colour phenotype with the highest albedo (yellow was shown to have persisted and a difference in colour frequency between woodland and more open habitats was confirmed, but there was no general increase in the frequency of yellow shells. This may have been because snails adapted to a warming climate through behavioural thermoregulation. By contrast, we detected an unexpected decrease in the frequency of Unbanded shells and an increase in the Mid-banded morph. Neither of these evolutionary changes appears to be a direct response to climate change, indicating that the influence of other selective agents, possibly related to changing predation pressure and habitat change with effects on micro-climate.

A camera-phone based study reveals erratic eating pattern and disrupted daily eating-fasting cycle among adults in India.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Neelu Jain Gupta

Full Text Available The daily rhythm of feeding-fasting and meal-timing are emerging as important determinants of health. Circadian rhythm research in animal models and retrospective analyses of human nutrition data have shown that reduced length of overnight fasting or increased late night eating increases risk for metabolic diseases including obesity and diabetes. However, the daily rhythm in eating pattern in humans is rarely measured. Traditional methods to collect nutrition information through food diary and food log pay little attention to the timing of eating which may also change from day to day. We adopted a novel cell-phone based approach to longitudinally record all events of food and beverage intake in adults. In a feasibility study daily food-eating patterns of 93 healthy individuals were recorded for 21 days using camera phones. Analysis of the daily eating patterns of these individuals indicates deviation from conventional assumption that people eat three meals-a-day within a 12 h interval. We found that eating events are widespread throughout the day, with 30% consumed in evening and late night hours. There was little difference in eating pattern between weekdays and weekends. In this cohort more than 50% of people spread their caloric intake events over 15 h or longer. One decile of the cohort who were spouses of shift-workers or had flexible work schedule spread their caloric intake over 20 h. Although the nutrition quality and diversity of food consumed is different between South-East Asian and Western countries, such overall disruption of daily eating-fasting rhythm is similar. Therefore, in view of hypothesis that disrupted daily eating pattern may contribute to the global increase in metabolic diseases and modification of daily eating pattern is a potential modifiable behavior to contain these diseases, monitoring eating pattern is an important aspect of lifestyle.

A camera-phone based study reveals erratic eating pattern and disrupted daily eating-fasting cycle among adults in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Gupta, Neelu Jain; Kumar, Vinod; Panda, Satchidananda

2017-01-01

The daily rhythm of feeding-fasting and meal-timing are emerging as important determinants of health. Circadian rhythm research in animal models and retrospective analyses of human nutrition data have shown that reduced length of overnight fasting or increased late night eating increases risk for metabolic diseases including obesity and diabetes. However, the daily rhythm in eating pattern in humans is rarely measured. Traditional methods to collect nutrition information through food diary and food log pay little attention to the timing of eating which may also change from day to day. We adopted a novel cell-phone based approach to longitudinally record all events of food and beverage intake in adults. In a feasibility study daily food-eating patterns of 93 healthy individuals were recorded for 21 days using camera phones. Analysis of the daily eating patterns of these individuals indicates deviation from conventional assumption that people eat three meals-a-day within a 12 h interval. We found that eating events are widespread throughout the day, with 30% consumed in evening and late night hours. There was little difference in eating pattern between weekdays and weekends. In this cohort more than 50% of people spread their caloric intake events over 15 h or longer. One decile of the cohort who were spouses of shift-workers or had flexible work schedule spread their caloric intake over 20 h. Although the nutrition quality and diversity of food consumed is different between South-East Asian and Western countries, such overall disruption of daily eating-fasting rhythm is similar. Therefore, in view of hypothesis that disrupted daily eating pattern may contribute to the global increase in metabolic diseases and modification of daily eating pattern is a potential modifiable behavior to contain these diseases, monitoring eating pattern is an important aspect of lifestyle.

The pattern and time course of somatosensory changes in the human UVB sunburn model reveal the presence of peripheral and central sensitization.

Science.gov (United States)

Gustorff, Burkhard; Sycha, Thomas; Lieba-Samal, Doris; Rolke, Roman; Treede, Rolf-Detlef; Magerl, Walter

2013-04-01

The ultraviolet B (UVB) sunburn model was characterized with a comprehensive battery of quantitative sensory testing (QST). Primary hyperalgesia in UVB-irradiated skin and secondary hyperalgesia in adjacent nonirradiated skin were studied in 22 healthy subjects 24h after irradiation with UVB at 3-fold minimal erythema dose of a skin area 5 cm in diameter at the thigh and compared to mirror-image contralateral control areas. The time course of hyperalgesia over 96 h was studied in a subgroup of 12 subjects. Within the sunburn area, cold hyperesthesia (P=.01), profound generalized hyperalgesia to heat (Psunburn was surrounded by large areas of pinprick hyperalgesia (mean±SEM, 218±32 cm(2)) and a small rim of dynamic mechanical allodynia but no other sensory changes. Although of smaller magnitude, secondary hyperalgesia and dynamic mechanical allodynia adjacent to the UVB-irradiated area were statistically highly significant. Primary and secondary hyperalgesia developed in parallel within hours, peaked after 24-32 h, and lasted for more than 96 h. These data reveal that the UVB sunburn model activates a broad spectrum of peripheral and central sensitization mechanisms and hence is a useful human surrogate model to be used as a screening tool for target engagement in phases 1 and 2a of drug development. Copyright © 2013 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Revealing the surface pattern of medieval pattern welded iron objects - etching tests conducted on reconstructed composites

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Thiele, Á.; Hošek, Jiří; Haramza, M.; Török, B.

2014-01-01

Roč. 25, č. 1 (2014), s. 18-24 ISSN 1805-7241 R&D Projects: GA ČR GAP405/12/2289 Institutional support: RVO:67985912 Keywords : etching * pattern welding * phosphoric iron * archaeometallurgy Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology

Deep brain stimulation changes basal ganglia output nuclei firing pattern in the dystonic hamster.

Science.gov (United States)

Leblois, Arthur; Reese, René; Labarre, David; Hamann, Melanie; Richter, Angelika; Boraud, Thomas; Meissner, Wassilios G

2010-05-01

Dystonia is a heterogeneous syndrome of movement disorders characterized by involuntary muscle contractions leading to abnormal movements and postures. While medical treatment is often ineffective, deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the internal pallidum improves dystonia. Here, we studied the impact of DBS in the entopeduncular nucleus (EP), the rodent equivalent of the human globus pallidus internus, on basal ganglia output in the dt(sz)-hamster, a well-characterized model of dystonia by extracellular recordings. Previous work has shown that EP-DBS improves dystonic symptoms in dt(sz)-hamsters. We report that EP-DBS changes firing pattern in the EP, most neurons switching to a less regular firing pattern during DBS. In contrast, EP-DBS did not change the average firing rate of EP neurons. EP neurons display multiphasic responses to each stimulation impulse, likely underlying the disruption of their firing rhythm. Finally, neurons in the substantia nigra pars reticulata display similar responses to EP-DBS, supporting the idea that EP-DBS affects basal ganglia output activity through the activation of common afferent fibers. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The evolution of nervous system patterning: insights from sea urchin development

Science.gov (United States)

Angerer, Lynne M.; Yaguchi, Shunsuke; Angerer, Robert C.; Burke, Robert D.

2011-01-01

Recent studies of the sea urchin embryo have elucidated the mechanisms that localize and pattern its nervous system. These studies have revealed the presence of two overlapping regions of neurogenic potential at the beginning of embryogenesis, each of which becomes progressively restricted by separate, yet linked, signals, including Wnt and subsequently Nodal and BMP. These signals act to specify and localize the embryonic neural fields – the anterior neuroectoderm and the more posterior ciliary band neuroectoderm – during development. Here, we review these conserved nervous system patterning signals and consider how the relationships between them might have changed during deuterostome evolution. PMID:21828090

Reading Patterns Changing

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

无

2011-01-01

Modern life is changing the way people read April 23 was the 16th World Book and Copyright Day,also known as the World Book Day.Reading-related problems have once again attracted people’s attention.Today,living a life with an increasingly rapid pace,most people are

Changing patterns in pulmonary tuberculosis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tytle, T.L.; Johnson, T.H.

1984-01-01

The authors reviewed the initial chest roentgenograms of 182 consecutive adult patients with proven active tuberculosis. Less than 50% of all cases were known or suspected at the time of initial presentation. There is a low degree of correlation between radiologically discernible active pulmonary tuberculosis and extrapulmonary tuberculosis. A high percentage of cases represent uncommon pulmonary locations. The frequency of occurrence of four common pulmonary patterns is presented. 21 references, 4 figures, 5 tables

Patterns of poverty exposure and children's trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors.

Science.gov (United States)

Comeau, Jinette; Boyle, Michael H

2018-04-01

Using data from the Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we compare trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors among children exposed to five patterns of poverty from birth to age 14: always or never poor - stable patterns; a single transition into or out of poverty, or repeated fluctuations in and out of poverty - changing patterns. We also examine how low maternal education and single parenthood interact with these poverty exposures to compound their adverse effects. Finally, we compare the magnitude of effects associated with the patterns of poverty exposure, as well as their interactions with low maternal education and single parenthood, on trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors to determine if they are significantly different. Results reveal that initial levels and rates of change in children's trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors are similar across the three changing patterns of poverty exposure, leading us to combine them into a single group representing intermittent poverty. Initial disparities between children who are never poor and their counterparts who are always or intermittently poor are constant over time for internalizing behaviors and grow in magnitude for externalizing behaviors. The cumulative negative effect of poverty exposure over time is stronger for externalizing vs. internalizing behaviors. Low maternal education compounds the adverse effects of persistent poverty, an effect that is similar for externalizing and internalizing behaviors.

Developmental heterogeneity in DNA packaging patterns influences T-cell activation and transmigration.

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Soumya Gupta

Full Text Available Cellular differentiation programs are accompanied by large-scale changes in nuclear organization and gene expression. In this context, accompanying transitions in chromatin assembly that facilitates changes in gene expression and cell behavior in a developmental system are poorly understood. Here, we address this gap and map structural changes in chromatin organization during murine T-cell development, to describe an unusual heterogeneity in chromatin organization and associated functional correlates in T-cell lineage. Confocal imaging of DNA assembly in cells isolated from bone marrow, thymus and spleen reveal the emergence of heterogeneous patterns in DNA organization in mature T-cells following their exit from the thymus. The central DNA pattern dominated in immature precursor cells in the thymus whereas both central and peripheral DNA patterns were observed in naïve and memory cells in circulation. Naïve T-cells with central DNA patterns exhibited higher mechanical pliability in response to compressive loads in vitro and transmigration assays in vivo, and demonstrated accelerated expression of activation-induced marker CD69. T-cell activation was characterized by marked redistribution of DNA assembly to a central DNA pattern and increased nuclear size. Notably, heterogeneity in DNA patterns recovered in cells induced into quiescence in culture, suggesting an internal regulatory mechanism for chromatin reorganization. Taken together, our results uncover an important component of plasticity in nuclear organization, reflected in chromatin assembly, during T-cell development, differentiation and transmigration.

Broad-scale sampling of primary freshwater fish populations reveals the role of intrinsic traits, inter-basin connectivity, drainage area and latitude on shaping contemporary patterns of genetic diversity

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Carla Sousa-Santos

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Background. Worldwide predictions suggest that up to 75% of the freshwater fish species occurring in rivers with reduced discharge could be extinct by 2070 due to the combined effect of climate change and water abstraction. The Mediterranean region is considered to be a hotspot of freshwater fish diversity but also one of the regions where the effects of climate change will be more severe. Iberian cyprinids are currently highly endangered, with over 68% of the species raising some level of conservation concern. Methods. During the FISHATLAS project, the Portuguese hydrographical network was extensively covered (all the 34 river basins and 47 sub-basins in order to contribute with valuable data on the genetic diversity distribution patterns of native cyprinid species. A total of 188 populations belonging to 16 cyprinid species of Squalius, Luciobarbus, Achondrostoma, Iberochondrostoma, Anaecypris and Pseudochondrostoma were characterized, for a total of 3,678 cytochrome b gene sequences. Results. When the genetic diversity of these populations was mapped, it highlighted differences among populations from the same species and between species with identical distribution areas. Factors shaping the contemporary patterns of genetic diversity were explored and the results revealed the role of latitude, inter-basin connectivity, migratory behaviour, species maximum size, species range and other species intrinsic traits in determining the genetic diversity of sampled populations. Contrastingly, drainage area and hydrological regime (permanent vs. temporary seem to have no significant effect on genetic diversity. Species intrinsic traits, maximum size attained, inter-basin connectivity and latitude explained over 30% of the haplotype diversity variance and, generally, the levels of diversity were significantly higher for smaller sized species, from connected and southerly river basins. Discussion. Targeting multiple co-distributed species of primary

Dialysate White Blood Cell Change after Initial Antibiotic Treatment Represented the Patterns of Response in Peritoneal Dialysis-Related Peritonitis.

Science.gov (United States)

Tantiyavarong, Pichaya; Traitanon, Opas; Chuengsaman, Piyatida; Patumanond, Jayanton; Tasanarong, Adis

2016-01-01

Background. Patients with peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis usually have different responses to initial antibiotic treatment. This study aimed to explore the patterns of response by using the changes of dialysate white blood cell count on the first five days of the initial antibiotic treatment. Materials and Methods. A retrospective cohort study was conducted. All peritoneal dialysis-related peritonitis episodes from January 2014 to December 2015 were reviewed. We categorized the patterns of antibiotic response into 3 groups: early response, delayed response, and failure group. The changes of dialysate white blood cell count for each pattern were determined by multilevel regression analysis. Results. There were 644 episodes in 455 patients: 378 (58.7%) of early response, 122 (18.9%) of delayed response, and 144 (22.3%) of failure episodes. The patterns of early, delayed, and failure groups were represented by the average rate reduction per day of dialysate WBC of 68.4%, 34.0%, and 14.2%, respectively (p value patterns, which were categorized by types of responses, have variable rates of WBC declining. Clinicians should focus on the delayed response and failure patterns in order to make a decision whether to continue medical therapies or to aggressively remove the peritoneal catheter.

Changing energy profiles and consumption patterns following electrification in five rural villages, South Africa

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madubansi, M.; Shackleton, C.M.

2006-01-01

Following the democratic transition in South Africa in the early 1990s the government has implemented a widespread electrification programme, as well as introduced a free basic electricity allowance as a means of poverty alleviation. Yet there are limited longitudinal studies on the impacts of the introduction of electricity on the patterns of household energy use, and even more so in the neglected rural sector. This study reports on the patterns of household energy use in five rural settlements in 1991 and again in 2002. Results indicate a changing pattern of energy use for lighting and powering entertainment appliances, more specifically from dry-cell batteries and paraffin to electricity. Yet for thermal needs, most notably cooking, fuelwood has remained the most widespread fuel, and the amount used per month has not changed, despite increasing scarcity of wood in the local environment. There has been an increase in the proportion of households purchasing fuelwood as opposed to collecting their own. Overall, the mean total number of fuel types used per household has increased, indicating that electricity is simply viewed as an additional energy, rather than an alternative. Yet, electricity accounted for approximately 60% of expenditure on energy sources in 2002, despite the government's policy of a free basic allowance of 5-6 kWh per month. This has implications for energy supply costing, as well as the poverty alleviation dimensions of the whole programme

Identification of a food pattern characterized by high-fiber and low-fat food choices associated with low prospective weight change in the EPIC-Potsdam cohort.

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, Mandy; Nöthlings, Ute; Hoffmann, Kurt; Bergmann, Manuela M; Boeing, Heiner

2005-05-01

The aim of the study was to identify a dietary pattern predictive of subsequent annual weight change by using dietary composition information. Study subjects were 24,958 middle-aged men and women of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Potsdam cohort. To derive dietary patterns, we used the reduced rank regression method with 3 response variables presumed to affect weight change: fat density, carbohydrate density, and fiber density. Annual weight change was computed by fitting a linear regression line to each person's body weight data (baseline, and 2- and 4-y follow-up) and determining the slope. In linear regression models, the pattern score was related to annual weight change. We identified a food pattern of high consumption of whole-grain bread, fruits, fruit juices, grain flakes/cereals, and raw vegetables, and of low consumption of processed meat, butter, high-fat cheese, margarine, and meat to be predictive of subsequent weight change. Mean annual weight gain gradually decreased with increasing pattern score (P for trend food pattern was significant only in nonobese subjects. In this study population, we identified a food pattern characterized by high-fiber and low-fat food choices that can help to maintain body weight or at least prevent excess body weight gain.

Direct observations of ice seasonality reveal changes in climate over the past 320–570 years

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Sapna; Magnuson, John J.; Batt, Ryan D.; Winslow, Luke; Korhonen, Johanna; Yasuyuki Aono,

2016-01-01

Lake and river ice seasonality (dates of ice freeze and breakup) responds sensitively to climatic change and variability. We analyzed climate-related changes using direct human observations of ice freeze dates (1443–2014) for Lake Suwa, Japan, and of ice breakup dates (1693–2013) for Torne River, Finland. We found a rich array of changes in ice seasonality of two inland waters from geographically distant regions: namely a shift towards later ice formation for Suwa and earlier spring melt for Torne, increasing frequencies of years with warm extremes, changing inter-annual variability, waning of dominant inter-decadal quasi-periodic dynamics, and stronger correlations of ice seasonality with atmospheric CO2 concentration and air temperature after the start of the Industrial Revolution. Although local factors, including human population growth, land use change, and water management influence Suwa and Torne, the general patterns of ice seasonality are similar for both systems, suggesting that global processes including climate change and variability are driving the long-term changes in ice seasonality.

What Is It Going to Be? Pattern and Potential Function of Natal Coat Change in Sexually Dichromatic Redfronted Lemurs (Eulemur fulvus rufus)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barthold, Julia A; Fichtel, Claudia; Kappeler, Peter M

2009-01-01

with adult male coloration and female infants subsequently undergo a change in coloration. Using digital pictures and behavioral data collected on eight mother-offspring dyads from birth until the end of the coloration change, we 1) described timing and pattern of pelage development in redfronted lemur...... infants and 2) examined behavioral developmental correlates of the coloration change. The color change took place between 7 and 17 weeks of age and coincided with advanced physical independence; a pattern also found in monochromatic primate species with natal coats. No behavioral differences between male...

Research Paper: The Impact of Synovial NF-ĸB Activation on Apoptosis Pattern Change During Adjuvant-induced Inflammation

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Sahar Golabi

2017-05-01

Conclusion: It seems that apoptosis pattern change plays an important role in the progression and modulation of CFA-induced inflammation and its related symptoms. Also, it can be concluded that synovial NF-ĸB had a crucial role in synovial apoptosis change during the study period.

Career patterns of healthcare executives.

Science.gov (United States)

Fahey, D F; Myrtle, R C

2001-02-01

This research examines the job and career changes of healthcare executives and managers working in different segments of the healthcare industry in the western United States. The results suggest that the job and career patterns in the healthcare delivery sector are undergoing significant transformation. One third of the respondents reports that at least one of their last four job changes was involuntary or unplanned. One half of those attempted to make a career change. This study identifies four different executive and management career patterns. The most common was one of multiple career changes. The second pattern was that of a single career change, followed by a 'traditional' career in which one did not seek a career change. The final pattern was characterized as a movement back and forth between two different segments of the healthcare industry. Age, gender, marital status and education were not associated with any specific career pattern. The need to achieve results early in the respondent's career had a strong influence on career patterns. This study confirms the fluidity of career movement and the changing permeability between the various segments of the healthcare industry. It also suggests that career success increasingly will require broad management experience in those different segments.

Recent changes of weather patterns in North America. Progress report for period ending April 1, 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kukla, G.J.; Karl, T.

1994-01-01

This report contains information dealing with climatic change in North America. Results gathered from present and previous DOE contracts are discussed. These include: usage of the Historical Climatology Network, characteristics of recent climate change, impacts of increasing anthropogenic greenhouse gases, seasonal trends, geographic and seasonal distribution of temperature anomalies, paleoclimates, weather pattern differences between eastern and western regions, daily temperature variations, general circulation models, and results of oceanic circulation

Developmental changes in sexual prejudice from early to late adolescence: the effects of gender, race, and ideology on different patterns of change.

Science.gov (United States)

Poteat, V Paul; Anderson, Carolyn J

2012-09-01

This study documented significant changes in prejudice toward gay and lesbian individuals among adolescents from the ages of 12 to 18 years. Moreover, in line with developmental theories of prejudice, there was substantial variability in these patterns, partially predicted by the gender and ideological beliefs (reflected by social dominance orientation [SDO]) of individuals. Boys reported higher prejudice at age 12 than girls. SDO also accounted for initial differences in levels of prejudice. Further, although prejudice toward gay men did decrease among girls over time, it did not decrease among boys. Prejudice toward lesbians decreased at similar rates for boys and girls. These different trajectories are explained within the context of gender socialization processes during adolescence. In addition, fluctuations in adolescents' own SDO corresponded with fluctuations in their level of prejudice, over and above those tied to age-related changes. This association was even stronger among those with overall higher SDO tendencies than others. However, SDO, when treated as a stable invariant factor, did not predict different patterns of progressive age-related change in prejudice. These results extend the research on sexual prejudice by examining it within a broader and more dynamic developmental framework, in greater alignment with developmental theories of prejudice. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Motor unit recruitment patterns 1: responses to changes in locomotor velocity and incline.

Science.gov (United States)

Hodson-Tole, Emma F; Wakeling, James M

2008-06-01

Mammalian skeletal muscles are composed of a mixture of motor unit types, which contribute a range of mechanical and physiological properties to the muscle. For a muscle to effectively contribute to smooth, co-ordinated movement it must activate an appropriate number and combination of motor units to generate the required force over a suitable time period. Much evidence exists indicating that motor units are activated in an orderly fashion, from the slowest through to the fastest. A growing body of evidence, however, indicates that such a recruitment strategy does not always hold true. Here we investigate how motor unit recruitment patterns were influenced by changes in locomotor velocity and incline. Kinematics data and myoelectric signals were collected from three rat ankle extensor muscles during running on a treadmill at nine velocity and incline combinations. Wavelet and principal component analysis were used to simultaneously decompose the signals into time and frequency space. The relative frequency components of the signals were quantified during 20 time windows of a stride from each locomotor condition. Differences in signal frequency components existed between muscles and locomotor conditions. Faster locomotor velocities led to a relative increase in high frequency components, whereas greater inclines led to a relative increase in the low frequency components. These data were interpreted as representing changes in motor unit recruitment patterns in response to changes in the locomotor demand. Motor units were not always recruited in an orderly manner, indicating that recruitment is a multi-factorial phenomenon that is not yet fully understood.

Benign compression fractures of the spine: signal patterns

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ryu, Kyung Nam; Choi, Woo Suk; Lee, Sun Wha; Lim, Jae Hoon

1992-01-01

Fifteen patients with 38 compression fractures of the spine underwent magnetic resonance(MR) imaging. We retrospectively evaluated MR images in those benign compression fractures. MR images showed four patterns in T1-weighted images. MR imaging patterns were normal signal(21), band like low signal(8), low signal with preservation of peripheral portion of the body(8), and diffuse low signal through the vertebral body(1). The low signal portions were changed to high signal intensities in T2-weighted images. In 7 of 15 patients (11 compression fractures), there was a history of trauma, and the remaining 8 patients (27 compression fractures) had no history of trauma. Benign compression fractures of trauma, remained 8 patients (27 compression fractures) were non-traumatic. Benign compression fractures of the spine reveal variable signal intensities in MR imagings. These patterns of benign compression fractures may be useful in interpretation of MR imagings of the spine

THE DEVELOPMENT OF STREET PATTERNS IN ISRAELI CITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itzhak OMER

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Street patterns of Israeli cities were investigated by comparing three time periods of urban development: (I the late 19th century until the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948; (II 1948 until the 1980s; and (III the late 1980s until the present. These time periods are related respectively to the pre-modern, modern and late-modern urban planning approach. Representative urban street networks were examined in selected cities by means of morphological analysis of typical street pattern properties: curvature, fragmentation, connectivity, continuity and differentiation. The study results reveal significant differences between the street patterns of the three examined periods in the development of cities in Israel. The results show clearly the gradual trends in the intensification of curvature, fragmentation, complexity and hierarchical organization of street networks as well as the weakening of the network's internal and external connectivity. The implications of these changes on connectivity and spatial integration are discussed with respect to planning approaches.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF STREET PATTERNS IN ISRAELI CITIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Itzhak OMER

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Street patterns of Israeli cities were investigated by comparing three time periods of urban development: (I the late 19th century until the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948; (II 1948 until the 1980s; and (III the late 1980s until the present. These time periods are related respectively to the pre-modern, modern and late-modern urban planning approach. Representative urban street networks were examined in selected cities by means of morphological analysis of typical street pattern properties: curvature, fragmentation, connectivity, continuity and differentiation. The study results reveal significant differences between the street patterns of the three examined periods in the development of cities in Israel. The results show clearly the gradual trends in the intensification of curvature, fragmentation, complexity and hierarchical organization of street networks as well as the weakening of the network's internal and external connectivity. The implications of these changes on connectivity and spatial integration are discussed with respect to planning approaches.

Stimulation of Changes, Collective Commitment and The Patterns of Group Formation in Community Development in South Sulawesi

Science.gov (United States)

Saleh, Syafiuddin

2018-05-01

This study aims to examine the pattern of group formation, related to the stimulation of change through the empowerment of farmers and poor fishermen The pattern of group formation is the basis for sustainable development. The research method used is qualitative descriptive method and relevant research type such as case study and triangulasi. The results of the study showed that (1) stimulation of changes made through development programs or community empowerment in the areas studied both among farm households and poor fishermen households for some programs received positive response from farmers and fishermen. However, the collective commitment to the breeding is relatively weak, since the group formed in each program is not done through good planning and concepts. (2) there are two patterns of group formation that are natural and formed formations initiated by outsiders. Groups that are naturally formed are more institutionalized and have characteristics such as intense and relatively routine interaction, strong mutual trust, and have a common form or mechanism shared for common purposes. The group can form the basis for sustainable development in improving the welfare of the poor.

[X-ray semiotics of the morphological and functional changes in chronic bronchitis].

Science.gov (United States)

Khomenko, A G; Dmitrieva, L I; Polak, J; Gapon'ko, G A; Starilova, I P

1985-01-01

The authors analysed structural disorders of a pulmonary pattern in patients with non-obstructive, obstructive and purulent bronchitis. Characteristic x-ray symptom-complexes were singled out for each clinical variant of the disease. In addition to roentgenomorphological changes functional disorders showing changes of biomechanics in patients with chronic bronchitis were revealed at roentgenopneumopolygraphy.

ALBEDO PATTERN RECOGNITION AND TIME-SERIES ANALYSES IN MALAYSIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Salleh

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Pattern recognition and time-series analyses will enable one to evaluate and generate predictions of specific phenomena. The albedo pattern and time-series analyses are very much useful especially in relation to climate condition monitoring. This study is conducted to seek for Malaysia albedo pattern changes. The pattern recognition and changes will be useful for variety of environmental and climate monitoring researches such as carbon budgeting and aerosol mapping. The 10 years (2000–2009 MODIS satellite images were used for the analyses and interpretation. These images were being processed using ERDAS Imagine remote sensing software, ArcGIS 9.3, the 6S code for atmospherical calibration and several MODIS tools (MRT, HDF2GIS, Albedo tools. There are several methods for time-series analyses were explored, this paper demonstrates trends and seasonal time-series analyses using converted HDF format MODIS MCD43A3 albedo land product. The results revealed significance changes of albedo percentages over the past 10 years and the pattern with regards to Malaysia's nebulosity index (NI and aerosol optical depth (AOD. There is noticeable trend can be identified with regards to its maximum and minimum value of the albedo. The rise and fall of the line graph show a similar trend with regards to its daily observation. The different can be identified in term of the value or percentage of rises and falls of albedo. Thus, it can be concludes that the temporal behavior of land surface albedo in Malaysia have a uniform behaviours and effects with regards to the local monsoons. However, although the average albedo shows linear trend with nebulosity index, the pattern changes of albedo with respects to the nebulosity index indicates that there are external factors that implicates the albedo values, as the sky conditions and its diffusion plotted does not have uniform trend over the years, especially when the trend of 5 years interval is examined, 2000 shows high

Exploratory graphical models of functional and structural connectivity patterns for Alzheimer's Disease diagnosis

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Andres eOrtiz

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Alzheimer’s Disease (AD is the most common neurodegenerative disease in elderly people. Itsdevelopment has been shown to be closely related to changes in the brain connectivity networkand in the brain activation patterns along with structural changes caused by the neurodegenerativeprocess.Methods to infer dependence between brain regions are usually derived from the analysis ofcovariance between activation levels in the different areas. However, these covariance-basedmethods are not able to estimate conditional independence between variables to factor out theinfluence of other regions. Conversely, models based on the inverse covariance, or precisionmatrix, such as Sparse Gaussian Graphical Models allow revealing conditional independencebetween regions by estimating the covariance between two variables given the rest as constant.This paper uses Sparse Inverse Covariance Estimation (SICE methods to learn undirectedgraphs in order to derive functional and structural connectivity patterns from Fludeoxyglucose(18F-FDG Position Emission Tomography (PET data and segmented Magnetic Resonanceimages (MRI, drawn from the ADNI database, for Control, MCI (Mild Cognitive ImpairmentSubjects and AD subjects. Sparse computation fits perfectly here as brain regions usually onlyinteract with a few other areas.The models clearly show different metabolic covariation patters between subject groups, revealingthe loss of strong connections in AD and MCI subjects when compared to Controls. Similarly,the variance between GM (Grey Matter densities of different regions reveals different structuralcovariation patterns between the different groups. Thus, the different connectivity patterns forcontrols and AD are used in this paper to select regions of interest in PET and GM images withdiscriminative power for early AD diagnosis. Finally, functional an structural models are combinedto leverage the classification accuracy.The results obtained in this work show the usefulness

Biodiversity, molecular ecology and phylogeography of marine sponges: patterns, implications and outlooks.

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Wörheide, Gert; Solé-Cava, Antonio M; Hooper, John N A

2005-04-01

Marine sponges are an ecologically important and highly diverse component of marine benthic communities, found in all the world's oceans, at all depths. Although their commercial potential and evolutionary importance is increasingly recognized, many pivotal aspects of their basic biology remain enigmatic. Knowledge of historical biogeographic affinities and biodiversity patterns is rudimentary, and there are still few data about genetic variation among sponge populations and spatial patterns of this variation. Biodiversity analyses of tropical Australasian sponges revealed spatial trends not universally reflected in the distributions of other marine phyla within the Indo-West Pacific region. At smaller spatial scales sponges frequently form heterogeneous, spatially patchy assemblages, with some empirical evidence suggesting that environmental variables such as light and/or turbidity strongly contribute to local distributions. There are no apparent latitudinal diversity gradients at larger spatial scales but stochastic processes, such as changing current patterns, the presence or absence of major carbonate platforms and historical biogeography, may determine modern day distributions. Studies on Caribbean oceanic reefs have revealed similar patterns, only weakly correlated with environmental factors. However, several questions remain where molecular approaches promise great potential, e.g., concerning connectivity and biogeographic relationships. Studies to date have helped to reveal that sponge populations are genetically highly structured and that historical processes might play an important role in determining such structure. Increasingly sophisticated molecular tools are now being applied, with results contributing significantly to a better understanding of poriferan microevolutionary processes and molecular ecology.

Consonant and Syllable Structure Patterns in Childhood Apraxia of Speech: Developmental Change in Three Children

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Jacks, Adam; Marquardt, Thomas P.; Davis, Barbara L.

2006-01-01

Changes in consonant and syllable-level error patterns of three children diagnosed with childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) were investigated in a 3-year longitudinal study. Spontaneous speech samples were analyzed to assess the accuracy of consonants and syllables. Consonant accuracy was low overall, with most frequent errors on middle- and…

Effect of changes in human ecology and behavior on patterns of sexually transmitted diseases, including human immunodeficiency virus infection.

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Wasserheit, J N

1994-01-01

The last 20 years have witnessed six striking changes in patterns of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): emergence of new STD organisms and etiologies, reemergence of old STDs, shifts in the populations in which STDs are concentrated, shifts in the etiological spectra of STD syndromes, alterations in the incidence of STD complications, and increases in antimicrobial resistance. For example, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) emerged to devastate the United States with a fatal pandemic involving at least 1 million people. The incidence of syphilis rose progressively after 1956 to reach a 40-year peak by 1990. In both cases, disease patterns shifted from homosexual men to include minority heterosexuals. Over the last decade, gonorrhea became increasingly concentrated among adolescents, and several new types of antimicrobial resistance appeared. Three interrelated types of environments affect STD patterns. The microbiologic, hormonal, and immunologic microenvironments most directly influence susceptibility, infectiousness, and development of sequelae. These microenvironments are shaped, in part, by the personal environments created by an individual's sexual, substance-use, and health-related behaviors. The personal environments are also important determinants of acquisition of infection and development of sequelae but, in addition, they mediate risk of exposure to infection. These are, therefore, the environments that most directly affect changing disease patterns. Finally, individuals' personal environments are, in turn, molded by powerful macroenvironmental forces, including socioeconomic, demographic, geographic, political, epidemiologic, and technological factors. Over the past 20 years, the profound changes that have occurred in many aspects of the personal environment and the macroenvironment have been reflected in new STD patterns. PMID:8146135

Western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) change their activity patterns in response to frugivory.

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Masi, Shelly; Cipolletta, Chloé; Robbins, Martha M

2009-02-01

The most important environmental factor explaining interspecies variation in ecology and sociality of the great apes is likely to be variation in resource availability. Relatively little is known about the activity patterns of western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla), which inhabit a dramatically different environment from the well-studied mountain gorillas (G. beringei beringei). This study aims to provide a detailed quantification of western lowland gorillas' activity budgets using direct observations on one habituated group in Bai Hokou, Central African Republic. We examined how activity patterns of both sexes are shaped by seasonal frugivory. Activity was recorded with 5-min instantaneous sampling between December 2004 and December 2005. During the high-frugivory period the gorillas spent less time feeding and more time traveling than during the low-frugivory period. The silverback spent less time feeding but more time resting than both females and immatures, which likely results from a combination of social and physiological factors. When compared with mountain gorillas, western lowland gorillas spend more time feeding (67 vs. 55%) and traveling (12 vs. 6.5%), but less time resting (21 vs. 34%) and engaging in social/other activities (0.5 vs. 3.6%). This disparity in activity budgets of western lowland gorillas and mountain gorillas may be explained by the more frugivorous diet and the greater dispersion of food resources experienced by western lowland gorillas. Like other apes, western lowland gorillas change their activity patterns in response to changes in the diet. (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

An ancestral stomatal patterning module revealed in the non-vascular land plant Physcomitrella patens

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Chater, Caspar C.; Kamisugi, Yasuko

2016-01-01

The patterning of stomata plays a vital role in plant development and has emerged as a paradigm for the role of peptide signals in the spatial control of cellular differentiation. Research in Arabidopsis has identified a series of epidermal patterning factors (EPFs), which interact with an array of membrane-localised receptors and associated proteins (encoded by ERECTA and TMM genes) to control stomatal density and distribution. However, although it is well-established that stomata arose very early in the evolution of land plants, until now it has been unclear whether the established angiosperm stomatal patterning system represented by the EPF/TMM/ERECTA module reflects a conserved, universal mechanism in the plant kingdom. Here, we use molecular genetics to show that the moss Physcomitrella patens has conserved homologues of angiosperm EPF, TMM and at least one ERECTA gene that function together to permit the correct patterning of stomata and that, moreover, elements of the module retain function when transferred to Arabidopsis. Our data characterise the stomatal patterning system in an evolutionarily distinct branch of plants and support the hypothesis that the EPF/TMM/ERECTA module represents an ancient patterning system. PMID:27407102

Innervation pattern of polycystic ovaries in the women.

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Wojtkiewicz, Joanna; Jana, Barbara; Kozłowska, Anna; Crayton, Robert; Majewski, Mariusz; Zalecki, Michał; Baranowski, Włodzimierz; Radziszewski, Piotr

2014-11-01

The aim of the present study was to determine the changes in both the distribution pattern and density of nerve fibers containing dopamine β-hydroxylase (DβH), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS), substance P (SP), calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), somatostatin (SOM), galanin (GAL) and pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) in the human polycystic ovaries. In the polycystic ovaries, when compared to the immunoreactions pattern observed in the control gonads, following changes were revealed: (1) an increase in the number of DβH-, VAChT-, VIP- or GAL-immunoreactive (IR) nerve fibers within the stroma as well as in the number of DβH-IR fibers near primordial follicles and medullar veins and venules; (2) a reduction in the number of nerve fibers containing nNOS, CGRP, SOM, PACAP within the stroma and in the numbers of CGRP-IR fibers around arteries; (3) an appearance of SP- and GAL-IR fibers around medullar and cortical arteries, arterioles, veins and venules, with except of GAL-IR fibers supplying medullar veins; and (4) the lack of nNOS-IR nerve fibers near primordial follicles and VIP-IR nerves around medullar arteries and arterioles. In conclusion, our results suggest that the changes in the innervation pattern of the polycystic ovaries in human may play an important role in the pathogenesis and/or course of this disorder. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Patterns of radiographic changes in hands and feet of rheumatoid arthritis in Saudi Arabia

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Al-Arfaj, Abdurhman S.; Al-Boukai, Ahmad A.

2005-01-01

The aim of the study was to characterize the pattern of radiographic changes in the hands and feet of rheumatoid arthritis in Saudi patients. The radiographs of hands and feet of rheumatoid arthritis patients attending rheumatology outpatient clinics of King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, over the period extending from March to June 2001, were examined and reported for the presence of osteopenia, joint space narrowing, and erosions. Fifty-six rheumatoid arthritis patients were studied. Their mean age was 50 + 1.9 years, and mean disease duration was 9.07 + 0.84 years. Generalized osteopenia was seen in 16/56 (29%) and periarticular osteopenia in 38/56 (68%). Joint space narrowing was present in 9/56 (16%) of feet and 35/56 (63%) of hand x-rays. Erosions were seen in 3/56 (6%) of feet and in 22/56 (39%) of hand x-rays. Significant correlation was seen between joints space narrowing, joint erosions, and disease duration. Radiographic changes in hands and feet of Saudi rheumatoid arthritis patients are less severe than those reported from the West, and the pattern is also different with less affection of the feet. (author)

The Developing, Aging Neocortex: How genetics and epigenetics influence early developmental patterning and age-related change.

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Kelly J. Huffman

2012-10-01

Full Text Available A hallmark of mammalian development is the generation of functional subdivisions within the nervous system. In humans, this regionalization creates a complex system that regulates behavior, cognition, memory and emotion. During development, specification of neocortical tissue that leads to functional sensory and motor regions results from an interplay between cortically intrinsic, molecular processes, such as gene expression, and extrinsic processes regulated by sensory input. Cortical specification in mice occurs pre- and perinatally, when gene expression is robust and various anatomical distinctions are observed alongside an emergence of physiological function. After patterning, gene expression continues to shift and axonal connections mature into an adult form. The function of adult cortical gene expression may be to maintain neocortical subdivisions that were established during early patterning. As some changes in neocortical gene expression have been observed past early development into late adulthood, gene expression may also play a role in the altered neocortical function observed in age-related cognitive decline and brain dysfunction. This review provides a discussion of how neocortical gene expression and specific patterns of neocortical sensori-motor axonal connections develop and change throughout the lifespan of the animal. We posit that a role of neocortical gene expression in neocortex is to regulate plasticity mechanisms that impact critical periods for sensory and motor plasticity in aging. We describe results from several studies in aging brain that detail changes in gene expression that may relate to microstructural changes observed in brain anatomy. We discuss the role of altered glucocorticoid signaling in age-related cognitive and functional decline, as well as how aging in the brain may result from immune system activation. We describe how caloric restriction or reduction of oxidative stress may ameliorate effects of aging

Speech pattern improvement following gingivectomy of excess palatal tissue.

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Holtzclaw, Dan; Toscano, Nicholas

2008-10-01

Speech disruption secondary to excessive gingival tissue has received scant attention in periodontal literature. Although a few articles have addressed the causes of this condition, documentation and scientific explanation of treatment outcomes are virtually non-existent. This case report describes speech pattern improvements secondary to periodontal surgery and provides a concise review of linguistic and phonetic literature pertinent to the case. A 21-year-old white female with a history of gingival abscesses secondary to excessive palatal tissue presented for treatment. Bilateral gingivectomies of palatal tissues were performed with inverse bevel incisions extending distally from teeth #5 and #12 to the maxillary tuberosities, and large wedges of epithelium/connective tissue were excised. Within the first month of the surgery, the patient noted "changes in the manner in which her tongue contacted the roof of her mouth" and "changes in her speech." Further anecdotal investigation revealed the patient's enunciation of sounds such as "s," "sh," and "k" was greatly improved following the gingivectomy procedure. Palatometric research clearly demonstrates that the tongue has intimate contact with the lateral aspects of the posterior palate during speech. Gingival excess in this and other palatal locations has the potential to alter linguopalatal contact patterns and disrupt normal speech patterns. Surgical correction of this condition via excisional procedures may improve linguopalatal contact patterns which, in turn, may lead to improved patient speech.

Objective assessment of chromatic and achromatic pattern adaptation reveals the temporal response properties of different visual pathways.

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Robson, Anthony G; Kulikowski, Janus J

2012-11-01

The aim was to investigate the temporal response properties of magnocellular, parvocellular, and koniocellular visual pathways using increment/decrement changes in contrast to elicit visual evoked potentials (VEPs). Static achromatic and isoluminant chromatic gratings were generated on a monitor. Chromatic gratings were modulated along red/green (R/G) or subject-specific tritanopic confusion axes, established using a minimum distinct border criterion. Isoluminance was determined using minimum flicker photometry. Achromatic and chromatic VEPs were recorded to contrast increments and decrements of 0.1 or 0.2 superimposed on the static gratings (masking contrast 0-0.6). Achromatic increment/decrement changes in contrast evoked a percept of apparent motion when the spatial frequency was low; VEPs to such stimuli were positive in polarity and largely unaffected by high levels of static contrast, consistent with transient response mechanisms. VEPs to finer achromatic gratings showed marked attenuation as static contrast was increased. Chromatic VEPs to R/G or tritan chromatic contrast increments were of negative polarity and showed progressive attenuation as static contrast was increased, in keeping with increasing desensitization of the sustained responses of the color-opponent visual pathways. Chromatic contrast decrement VEPs were of positive polarity and less sensitive to pattern adaptation. The relative contribution of sustained/transient mechanisms to achromatic processing is spatial frequency dependent. Chromatic contrast increment VEPs reflect the sustained temporal response properties of parvocellular and koniocellular pathways. Cortical VEPs can provide an objective measure of pattern adaptation and can be used to probe the temporal response characteristics of different visual pathways.

How small communities respond to environmental change: patterns from tropical to polar ecosystems

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Henry P. Huntington

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Local communities throughout the world are experiencing extensive social, cultural, economic, environmental, and climatic changes. Rather than passively accepting the effects of such changes, many communities are responding in various ways to take advantage of opportunities and to minimize negative impacts. We review examples from 13 cases around the world to identify patterns in how communities have been able to respond to change. Communities are able to respond by making changes in the time and location of activities, by using different species, by developing or using new technologies, and by organizing themselves internally or in networks. The possible responses a community can make on its own constitute the autonomous response space. When communities work with others to respond, they are in the collaborative response space. These findings suggest that assessments concerning climate and other forms of change should include local responses as a foundation for policy recommendations, recognizing that both autonomous and collaborative responses can contribute to adaptation. Policies designed to achieve adaptation or sustainability should consider ways to expand the autonomous response space, thus freeing local initiative, while also making the collaborative response space more cooperative, thus providing support to communities rather than imposing limitations.

Aging changes of molecular synthesis in the respiratory organs as revealed by microscopic radioautography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagata, T.

2001-01-01

For the purpose of elucidating the aging changes of macromolecular synthesis such as DNA, RNA, proteins, glycoproteins, glycides and lipids in various organ systems of experimental animals and men, we have studied respiratory organs of aging mice as a series of systematic studies using light and electron microscopic radioautography in various organ systems after incorporations with macromolecular precursors. The experimental animals mainly used were dd Y strain mice at various aging groups from embryo to postnatal day 1 and 3, weeks 1 and 2, months 1, 2, 6, 12 up to 2 year senescent stages. The animals were injected with such macromolecular precursors as 3 H - thymidine for DNA, 3 H-uridine for RNA, 3 H-leucine for proteins, 35 SO 4 for glycoproteins. The results demonstrated that these precursors were incorporated into various cell types in the lungs and tracheas at various ages from perinatal to juvenile, mature and senescent stages showing specific patterns of macromolecular synthesis. It is concluded that these specific pattern of macromolecular synthesis in respective cell types demonstrated the organ specificity of aging. (author)

Geometric morphometric analysis of cyclical body shape changes in color pattern variants of Cichla temensis Humboldt, 1821 (Perciformes: Cichlidae demonstrates reproductive energy allocation

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Paul Reiss

Full Text Available Previously recognized color and pattern variants of adult Cichla temensis in Amazon flood pulse river environments reflect the cycling of individuals through seasonal sexual maturity and spawning. Individuals also vary in shape from blocky to fusiform. To determine if shape differences are related to patterns of fat reserve deposition and utilization, and to quantify the relationship of shape with color and pattern variation and life history status, specimens in each of four previously defined grades of color and pattern variation were compared using geometric morphometric techniques. Progressive shape changes occurred between grades independent of sex and correlated to gonosomatic index (GSI. Thin plate spline deformation visualizations indicate that the observed shape differences are related to fat deposition patterns. The seasonal timing of shape change and its link to color pattern variation, sexual maturity and local water level conditions suggests a relationship between the physiological and behavioral characteristics of C. temensis and the cyclical flood pulse pattern of its habitat.

Modelling regional cropping patterns under scenarios of climate and socio-economic change in Hungary.

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Li, Sen; Juhász-Horváth, Linda; Pintér, László; Rounsevell, Mark D A; Harrison, Paula A

2018-05-01

Impacts of socio-economic, political and climatic change on agricultural land systems are inherently uncertain. The role of regional and local-level actors is critical in developing effective policy responses that accommodate such uncertainty in a flexible and informed way across governance levels. This study identified potential regional challenges in arable land use systems, which may arise from climate and socio-economic change for two counties in western Hungary: Veszprém and Tolna. An empirically-grounded, agent-based model was developed from an extensive farmer household survey about local land use practices. The model was used to project future patterns of arable land use under four localised, stakeholder-driven scenarios of plausible future socio-economic and climate change. The results show strong differences in farmers' behaviour and current agricultural land use patterns between the two regions, highlighting the need to implement focused policy at the regional level. For instance, policy that encourages local food security may need to support improvements in the capacity of farmers to adapt to physical constraints in Veszprém and farmer access to social capital and environmental awareness in Tolna. It is further suggested that the two regions will experience different challenges to adaptation under possible future conditions (up to 2100). For example, Veszprém was projected to have increased fallow land under a scenario with high inequality, ineffective institutions and higher-end climate change, implying risks of land abandonment. By contrast, Tolna was projected to have a considerable decline in major cereals under a scenario assuming a de-globalising future with moderate climate change, inferring challenges to local food self-sufficiency. The study provides insight into how socio-economic and physical factors influence the selection of crop rotation plans by farmers in western Hungary and how farmer behaviour may affect future risks to agricultural

Different patterns of contingent stimulation differentially affect attention span in prelinguistic infants.

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Miller, Jennifer L; Ables, Erin M; King, Andrew P; West, Meredith J

2009-06-01

The ability to sustain attention influences different domains including cognitive, motor, and communicative behavior. Previous research has demonstrated how an infant's parent can influence sustained attention. The purpose of our study was to expose infants systematically to both sensitive and redirective patterns of behavior to examine how unfamiliar individuals could influence attention. Results revealed infants changed their patterns of looking with the unfamiliar individuals. Infants had longer durations of sustained attention when interacting with a sensitive unfamiliar individual who followed into their attentional focus as opposed to an intrusive person who led their attentional focus. This study demonstrates that infants discriminate patterns of contingency to persons seen for only a short period of time broadening the range of potential mentors for learning.

Postnatal development of cerebellar zones revealed by neurofilament heavy chain protein expression

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Joshua J White

2013-05-01

Full Text Available The cerebellum is organized into parasagittal zones that control sensory-motor behavior. Although the architecture of adult zones is well understood, very little is known about how zones emerge during development. Understanding the process of zone formation is an essential step towards unraveling how circuits are constructed to support specific behaviors. Therefore, we focused this study on postnatal development to determine the spatial and temporal changes that establish zonal patterns during circuit formation. We used a combination of wholemount and tissue section immunohistochemistry in mice to show that the cytoskeletal protein neurofilament heavy chain (NFH is a robust marker for postnatal cerebellar zonal patterning. The patterned expression of NFH is initiated shortly after birth, and compared to the domains of several known zonal markers such as zebrin II, HSP25, neurogranin, and phospholipase Cβ4 (PLCβ4, NFH does not exhibit transient expression patterns that are typically remodeled between stages, and the adult zones do not emerge after a period of uniform expression in all lobules. Instead, we found that throughout postnatal development NFH gradually reveals distinct zones in each cerebellar lobule. The boundaries of individual NFH zones sharpen over time, as zones are refined during the second and third weeks after birth. Double labeling with neurogranin and PLCβ4 further revealed that although the postnatal expression of NFH is spatially and temporally unique, its pattern of zones respects a fundamental and well-known molecular topography in the cerebellum. The dynamics of NFH expression support the hypothesis that adult circuits are derived from an embryonic map that is refined into zones during the first three-weeks of life.

Data on introduced plants in Zimbabwe: Floristic changes and patterns of collection based on historical herbarium records

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Alfred Maroyi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available National herbaria with significant historical plant collections are critical to tracking floristic changes and patterns, which include the introduction and spread of non-native plant species. To explore the importance of herbarium specimen data in understanding floristic changes in Zimbabwe, the plant collections housed by the National Herbarium (SRGH in Harare, Zimbabwe were utilized with historical specimens dating back to 1870. A list of naturalised plant taxa and collection data were compiled. A total of 2916 plant specimens were recorded, comprising of 401 taxa, 237 genera and 76 plant families. Twenty eight specimens (1.0% were collected between 1870 and 1908, prior to the establishment of the National Herbarium in 1909 and 123 specimens (4.2% were collected in the first 25 years of the establishment of the institute (1909–1934. Intensive collection of herbarium specimens of casual, naturalised and invasive alien plant species occurred between 1950 and 1970. This data demonstrates the utility of plant species data housed in the National Herbaria and how such data can be used to map floristic changes and patterns. Keywords: Casual, Floristic changes, Invasive, Naturalised, National herbarium, Zimbabwe

Gestational and postpartum weight change patterns in mothers with eating disorders.

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Zerwas, Stephanie C; Von Holle, Ann; Perrin, Eliana M; Cockrell Skinner, Asheley; Reba-Harrelson, Lauren; Hamer, Robert M; Stoltenberg, Camilla; Torgersen, Leila; Reichborn-Kjennerud, Ted; Bulik, Cynthia M

2014-11-01

Although pregnancy can be associated with adaptive changes in weight and eating behaviour for women with eating disorders, less is known about whether these changes are maintained in the postpartum period. We used a longitudinal design to examine gestational and postpartum weight trajectories in mothers with and without eating disorders in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa) conducted by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Fifty-six women reported anorexia nervosa (AN), 636 bulimia nervosa, 3327 binge eating disorder and 69 eating disorder not otherwise specified, purging type. The referent group included 61,233 mothers with no eating disorder. We used a mixed effects model to predict weight change over time by eating disorder subtype. Mothers with AN, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder and eating disorder not otherwise specified had greater increases in body mass index (BMI) during pregnancy and greater decreases in BMI over the first 6 months postpartum. Women with AN shifted from the underweight BMI range before pregnancy to the normal weight range at 36 months postpartum Patterns of maternal weight gain and retention during the perinatal period vary across eating disorder subtype and warrant clinical attention. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Soil water content evaluation considering time-invariant spatial pattern and space-variant temporal change

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Hu, W.; Si, B. C.

2013-10-01

Soil water content (SWC) varies in space and time. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil water content distribution using a statistical model. The model divides spatial SWC series into time-invariant spatial patterns, space-invariant temporal changes, and space- and time-dependent redistribution terms. The redistribution term is responsible for the temporal changes in spatial patterns of SWC. An empirical orthogonal function was used to separate the total variations of redistribution terms into the sum of the product of spatial structures (EOFs) and temporally-varying coefficients (ECs). Model performance was evaluated using SWC data of near-surface (0-0.2 m) and root-zone (0-1.0 m) from a Canadian Prairie landscape. Three significant EOFs were identified for redistribution term for both soil layers. EOF1 dominated the variations of redistribution terms and it resulted in more changes (recharge or discharge) in SWC at wetter locations. Depth to CaCO3 layer and organic carbon were the two most important controlling factors of EOF1, and together, they explained over 80% of the variations in EOF1. Weak correlation existed between either EOF2 or EOF3 and the observed factors. A reasonable prediction of SWC distribution was obtained with this model using cross validation. The model performed better in the root zone than in the near surface, and it outperformed conventional EOF method in case soil moisture deviated from the average conditions.

Integrated analysis of whole genome and transcriptome sequencing reveals diverse transcriptomic aberrations driven by somatic genomic changes in liver cancers.

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Yuichi Shiraishi

Full Text Available Recent studies applying high-throughput sequencing technologies have identified several recurrently mutated genes and pathways in multiple cancer genomes. However, transcriptional consequences from these genomic alterations in cancer genome remain unclear. In this study, we performed integrated and comparative analyses of whole genomes and transcriptomes of 22 hepatitis B virus (HBV-related hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs and their matched controls. Comparison of whole genome sequence (WGS and RNA-Seq revealed much evidence that various types of genomic mutations triggered diverse transcriptional changes. Not only splice-site mutations, but also silent mutations in coding regions, deep intronic mutations and structural changes caused splicing aberrations. HBV integrations generated diverse patterns of virus-human fusion transcripts depending on affected gene, such as TERT, CDK15, FN1 and MLL4. Structural variations could drive over-expression of genes such as WNT ligands, with/without creating gene fusions. Furthermore, by taking account of genomic mutations causing transcriptional aberrations, we could improve the sensitivity of deleterious mutation detection in known cancer driver genes (TP53, AXIN1, ARID2, RPS6KA3, and identified recurrent disruptions in putative cancer driver genes such as HNF4A, CPS1, TSC1 and THRAP3 in HCCs. These findings indicate genomic alterations in cancer genome have diverse transcriptomic effects, and integrated analysis of WGS and RNA-Seq can facilitate the interpretation of a large number of genomic alterations detected in cancer genome.

Temporal Patterns in Diversity Change on Earth Over Time

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Bambach, Richard

2007-05-01

Multi-celled animals and plants did not originate until about 600 million years ago. Since then the diversity of life has expanded greatly, but this has not been a monotonic increase. Diversity, as taxonomic variety or richness, is produced by the interaction of origination and extinction. Origination and extinction are almost equally balanced; it has taken 600 million years to accumulate 10 to 30 million living species. With most species life spans in the range of one to fifteen million years most species that have ever originated are extinct and global diversity has “turned over” many times. Paleontologists recognize about 18 short-term events of elevated extinction intensity and diversity loss of sufficient magnitude to warrant the term “mass extinction.” Interestingly, in only one instance, the end-Cretaceous extinction, is there a consensus for the triggering event, but the kill mechanism or mechanisms that caused the widespread death of lineages is not established. We know less about the cause-effect relationships for other events. Recently a 62 million-year periodicity in the fluctuation of diversity has been documented, expressed primarily in the variation of diversity of marine genera that survived 45 million years or less. Analysis of the pattern of diversity change at the finest temporal scale possible suggests that the short-term mass extinctions are superimposed on this regular pattern of diversity fluctuations, rather than causal of them. However, most mass extinctions (14 of 18) occurred during the intervals of general diversity loss. It remains to be seen how origination and extinction interact to produce the periodic fluctuation in diversity.

Social Change, Competition and Inequality: Macro Societal Patterns Reflected in Curriculum Practices of Turkish Schools

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Somel, Rahsan Nazli; Nohl, Arnd-Michael

2015-01-01

Curriculum reforms provide a unique opportunity to investigate how in times of social change education is not only influenced by, but also itself a driver of, competition and inequality. This article sheds light on a specific instance of how macro-societal patterns in education intermingle in twenty-first century Turkey by inquiring into a major…

Association of 1-y changes in diet pattern with cardiovascular disease risk factors and adipokines: results from the 1-y randomized Oslo Diet and Exercise Study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jacobs, D.R.; Sluik, D.; Rokling-Andersen, M.H.; Anderssen, S.A.; Drevon, C.A.

2009-01-01

Background: We hypothesized that favorable changes in dietary patterns would lead to a reduction in body size and an improvement in metabolic status. Objective: The objective was to study changes in diet patterns relative to changes in body size, blood pressure, and circulating concentrations of

Scenario Analysis on Climate Change Impacts of Urban Land Expansion under Different Urbanization Patterns: A Case Study of Wuhan Metropolitan

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Xinli Ke

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Urban land expansion plays an important role in climate change. It is significant to select a reasonable urban expansion pattern to mitigate the impact of urban land expansion on the regional climate in the rapid urbanization process. In this paper, taking Wuhan metropolitan as the case study area, and three urbanization patterns scenarios are designed to simulate spatial patterns of urban land expansion in the future using the Partitioned and Asynchronous Cellular Automata Model. Then, simulation results of land use are adjusted and inputted into WRF (Weather Research and Forecast model to simulate regional climate change. The results show that: (1 warming effect is strongest under centralized urbanization while it is on the opposite under decentralized scenario; (2 the warming effect is stronger and wider in centralized urbanization scenario than in decentralized urbanization scenario; (3 the impact trends of urban land use expansion on precipitation are basically the same under different scenarios; (4 and spatial distribution of rainfall was more concentrated under centralized urbanization scenario, and there is a rainfall center of wider scope, greater intensity. Accordingly, it can be concluded that decentralized urbanization is a reasonable urbanization pattern to mitigate climate change in rapid urbanization period.

Roles for SH2 and SH3 domains in Lyn kinase association with activated FcepsilonRI in RBL mast cells revealed by patterned surface analysis.

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Hammond, Stephanie; Wagenknecht-Wiesner, Alice; Veatch, Sarah L; Holowka, David; Baird, Barbara

2009-10-01

In mast cells, antigen-mediated cross-linking of IgE bound to its high-affinity surface receptor, FcepsilonRI, initiates a signaling cascade that culminates in degranulation and release of allergic mediators. Antigen-patterned surfaces, in which the antigen is deposited in micron-sized features on a silicon substrate, were used to examine the spatial relationship between clustered IgE-FcepsilonRI complexes and Lyn, the signal-initiating tyrosine kinase. RBL mast cells expressing wild-type Lyn-EGFP showed co-redistribution of this protein with clustered IgE receptors on antigen-patterned surfaces, whereas Lyn-EGFP containing an inhibitory point mutation in its SH2 domain did not significantly accumulate with the patterned antigen, and Lyn-EGFP with an inhibitory point mutation in its SH3 domain exhibited reduced interactions. Our results using antigen-patterned surfaces and quantitative cross-correlation image analysis reveal that both the SH2 and SH3 domains contribute to interactions between Lyn kinase and cross-linked IgE receptors in stimulated mast cells.

Generalised power graph compression reveals dominant relationship patterns in complex networks.

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Ahnert, Sebastian E

2014-03-25

We introduce a framework for the discovery of dominant relationship patterns in complex networks, by compressing the networks into power graphs with overlapping power nodes. When paired with enrichment analysis of node classification terms, the most compressible sets of edges provide a highly informative sketch of the dominant relationship patterns that define the network. In addition, this procedure also gives rise to a novel, link-based definition of overlapping node communities in which nodes are defined by their relationships with sets of other nodes, rather than through connections within the community. We show that this completely general approach can be applied to undirected, directed, and bipartite networks, yielding valuable insights into the large-scale structure of real-world networks, including social networks and food webs. Our approach therefore provides a novel way in which network architecture can be studied, defined and classified.

Changing patterns in water toxicity associated with current use pesticides in three California agriculture regions.

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Anderson, Brian S; Phillips, Bryn M; Voorhees, Jennifer P; Deng, Xin; Geraci, Jeff; Worcester, Karen; Tjeerdema, Ron S

2018-03-01

Regulation of agriculture irrigation water discharges in California, USA, is assessed and controlled by its 9 Regional Water Quality Control Boards under the jurisdiction of the California State Water Resources Control Board. Each Regional Water Board has developed programs to control pesticides in runoff as part of the waste discharge requirements implemented through each region's Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program. The present study assessed how pesticide use patterns differ in the Imperial (Imperial County) and the Salinas and Santa Maria (Monterey County) valleys, which host 3 of California's prime agriculture areas. Surface-water toxicity associated with current use pesticides was monitored at several sites in these areas in 2014 and 2015, and results were linked to changes in pesticide use patterns in these areas. Pesticide use patterns appeared to coincide with differences in the way agriculture programs were implemented by the 2 respective Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and these programs differed in the 2 Water Board Regions. Different pesticide use patterns affected the occurrence of pesticides in agriculture runoff, and this influenced toxicity test results. Greater detection frequency and higher concentrations of the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos were detected in agriculture runoff in Imperial County compared to Monterey County, likely due to more rigorous monitoring requirements for growers using this pesticide in Monterey County. Monterey County agriculture runoff contained toxic concentrations of pyrethroid and neonicotinoid pesticides, which impacted amphipods (Hyalella azteca) and midge larvae (Chironomus dilutus) in toxicity tests. Study results illustrate how monitoring strategies need to evolve as regulatory actions affect change in pesticide use and demonstrate the importance of using toxicity test indicator species appropriate for the suite of contaminants in runoff in order to accurately assess environmental risk. Integr

Costochondral ossification pattern. Analysis by 3-dimensional CT image

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ma, Hailong; Nakatani, Kimiko

2005-01-01

We reviewed about an ossification pattern of costal cartilage with using three dimensional images made from computed tomography. We analyzed ossification of 16 costal cartilages in each case. We classified ossification pattern into eight groups by its configuration in one hundred cases. The sexual specificity of ossification pattern was revealed, and we can determinate sex in 82%. It was also revealed that ossification grows with increasing age. Finally, the knowledge of costochondral ossification pattern must help in case of reading chest radiographs. (author)

Simulating carbon dioxide exchange rates of deciduous tree species: evidence for a general pattern in biochemical changes and water stress response.

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Reynolds, Robert F; Bauerle, William L; Wang, Ying

2009-09-01

Deciduous trees have a seasonal carbon dioxide exchange pattern that is attributed to changes in leaf biochemical properties. However, it is not known if the pattern in leaf biochemical properties - maximum Rubisco carboxylation (V(cmax)) and electron transport (J(max)) - differ between species. This study explored whether a general pattern of changes in V(cmax), J(max), and a standardized soil moisture response accounted for carbon dioxide exchange of deciduous trees throughout the growing season. The model MAESTRA was used to examine V(cmax) and J(max) of leaves of five deciduous trees, Acer rubrum 'Summer Red', Betula nigra, Quercus nuttallii, Quercus phellos and Paulownia elongata, and their response to soil moisture. MAESTRA was parameterized using data from in situ measurements on organs. Linking the changes in biochemical properties of leaves to the whole tree, MAESTRA integrated the general pattern in V(cmax) and J(max) from gas exchange parameters of leaves with a standardized soil moisture response to describe carbon dioxide exchange throughout the growing season. The model estimates were tested against measurements made on the five species under both irrigated and water-stressed conditions. Measurements and modelling demonstrate that the seasonal pattern of biochemical activity in leaves and soil moisture response can be parameterized with straightforward general relationships. Over the course of the season, differences in carbon exchange between measured and modelled values were within 6-12 % under well-watered conditions and 2-25 % under water stress conditions. Hence, a generalized seasonal pattern in the leaf-level physiological change of V(cmax) and J(max), and a standardized response to soil moisture was sufficient to parameterize carbon dioxide exchange for large-scale evaluations. Simplification in parameterization of the seasonal pattern of leaf biochemical activity and soil moisture response of deciduous forest species is demonstrated. This

NMR-Based Metabonomic Investigation of Heat Stress in Myotubes Reveals a Time-Dependent Change in the Metabolites

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Straadt, Ida K; Young, Jette F; Bross, Peter

2010-01-01

NMR-based metabonomics was applied to elucidate the time-dependent stress responses in mouse myotubes after heat exposure of either 42 or 45 degrees C for 1 h. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the gradual time-dependent changes in metabolites contributing to the clustering...... and separation of the control samples from the different time points after heat stress primarily are in the metabolites glucose, leucine, lysine, phenylalanine, creatine, glutamine, and acetate. In addition, PC scores revealed a maximum change in metabolite composition 4 h after the stress exposure; thereafter......, samples returned toward control samples, however, without reaching the control samples even 10 h after stress. The results also indicate that the myotubes efficiently regulate the pH level by release of lactate to the culture medium at a heat stress level of 42 degrees C, which is a temperature level...

Comparing expressed and revealed preferences for risk reduction: different hazards and question frames

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDaniels, T.L.

1988-01-01

Studies often note the wide differences that exist in costs per death avoided across US federal programs and regulatory contexts. This paper explores two new, related explanations for these differences. First, it argues that the patterns of revealed preferences (public allocations) may be related to public values, which are measured here through subjects' expressed preference responses to a contingent valuation survey regarding risk reduction. Subjects' expressed values are compared to actual (and proposed) costs of safety regulations for a similar set of hazards. The authors discover strong congruence in the ranking of expressed values and actual values. Second, the paper presents the results of a subsequent survey that investigates why the patterns observed in the first survey might occur. It suggests that one reason for the observed similarities between revealed and expressed preferences may be in how choices are framed. The paper hypothesizes that both subjects and decision makers may frame valuation decisions in the same way: as percentage changes from the reference point provided by the base rate of deaths for that hazard

Continental cichlid radiations: functional diversity reveals the role of changing ecological opportunity in the Neotropics.

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Arbour, Jessica Hilary; López-Fernández, Hernán

2016-08-17

Adaptive radiations have been hypothesized to contribute broadly to the diversity of organisms. Models of adaptive radiation predict that ecological opportunity and ecological release, the availability of empty ecological niches and the response by adapting lineages to occupy them, respectively, drive patterns of phenotypic and lineage diversification. Adaptive radiations driven by 'ecological opportunity' are well established in island systems; it is less clear if ecological opportunity influences continent-wide diversification. We use Neotropical cichlid fishes to test if variation in rates of functional evolution is consistent with changing ecological opportunity. Across a functional morphological axis associated with ram-suction feeding traits, evolutionary rates declined through time as lineages diversified in South America. Evolutionary rates of ram-suction functional morphology also appear to have accelerated as cichlids colonized Central America and encountered renewed opportunity. Our results suggest that ecological opportunity may play an important role in shaping patterns of morphological diversity of even broadly distributed lineages like Neotropical cichlids. © 2016 The Author(s).

Species distributions and climate change:current patterns and future scenarios for biodiversity

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Hof, Christian

by shifts of their distributional ranges, which affects the spatial patterns of species richness and turnover. Global temperatures are projected to rise by 1.8 - 4°C until the end of the century; hence climate change will most likely leave further imprints on species and ecosystems. This PhD thesis aims......-thirds of the areas harboring the richest amphibian faunas may be heavily impacted by at least one of the major threats by 2080. The stability of the climatic niche influences the need for a species to track climate change via dispersal, or its potential to adapt to novel climatic conditions. I therefore explore...... the phylogenetic signal in climatic niches of the world's amphibians, which serves as a surrogate quantification of niche stability. Results indicate an overall tendency of phylogenetic signal to be present in realised climatic niches, but signal strength varies across biogeographical regions and among amphibian...

Different localization patterns of anthocyanin species in the pericarp of black rice revealed by imaging mass spectrometry.

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Yukihiro Yoshimura

Full Text Available Black rice (Oryza sativa L. Japonica contains high levels of anthocyanins in the pericarp and is considered an effective health-promoting food. Several studies have identified the molecular species of anthocyanins in black rice, but information about the localization of each anthocyanin species is limited because methodologies for investigating the localization such as determining specific antibodies to anthocyanin, have not yet been developed Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization imaging mass spectrometry (MALDI-IMS is a suitable tool for investigating the localization of metabolites. In this study, we identified 7 species of anthocyanin monoglycosides and 2 species of anthocyanin diglycosides in crude extracts from black rice by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS analysis. We also analyzed black rice sections by MALDI-IMS and found 2 additional species of anthocyanin pentosides and revealed different localization patterns of anthocyanin species composed of different sugar moieties. Anthocyanin species composed of a pentose moiety (cyanidin-3-O-pentoside and petunidin-3-O-pentoside were localized in the entire pericarp, whereas anthocyanin species composed of a hexose moiety (cyanidin-3-O-hexoside and peonidin-3-O-hexoside were focally localized in the dorsal pericarp. These results indicate that anthocyanin species composed of different sugar moieties exhibit different localization patterns in the pericarp of black rice. This is the first detailed investigation into the localization of molecular species of anthocyanins by MALDI-IMS.

Karyotypic changes through dysploidy persist longer over evolutionary time than polyploid changes.

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Marcial Escudero

Full Text Available Chromosome evolution has been demonstrated to have profound effects on diversification rates and speciation in angiosperms. While polyploidy has predated some major radiations in plants, it has also been related to decreased diversification rates. There has been comparatively little attention to the evolutionary role of gains and losses of single chromosomes, which may or not entail changes in the DNA content (then called aneuploidy or dysploidy, respectively. In this study we investigate the role of chromosome number transitions and of possible associated genome size changes in angiosperm evolution. We model the tempo and mode of chromosome number evolution and its possible correlation with patterns of cladogenesis in 15 angiosperm clades. Inferred polyploid transitions are distributed more frequently towards recent times than single chromosome gains and losses. This is likely because the latter events do not entail changes in DNA content and are probably due to fission or fusion events (dysploidy, as revealed by an analysis of the relationship between genome size and chromosome number. Our results support the general pattern that recently originated polyploids fail to persist, and suggest that dysploidy may have comparatively longer-term persistence than polyploidy. Changes in chromosome number associated with dysploidy were typically observed across the phylogenies based on a chi-square analysis, consistent with these changes being neutral with respect to diversification.

Data on introduced plants in Zimbabwe: Floristic changes and patterns of collection based on historical herbarium records.

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Maroyi, Alfred

2017-12-01

National herbaria with significant historical plant collections are critical to tracking floristic changes and patterns, which include the introduction and spread of non-native plant species. To explore the importance of herbarium specimen data in understanding floristic changes in Zimbabwe, the plant collections housed by the National Herbarium (SRGH) in Harare, Zimbabwe were utilized with historical specimens dating back to 1870. A list of naturalised plant taxa and collection data were compiled. A total of 2916 plant specimens were recorded, comprising of 401 taxa, 237 genera and 76 plant families. Twenty eight specimens (1.0%) were collected between 1870 and 1908, prior to the establishment of the National Herbarium in 1909 and 123 specimens (4.2%) were collected in the first 25 years of the establishment of the institute (1909-1934). Intensive collection of herbarium specimens of casual, naturalised and invasive alien plant species occurred between 1950 and 1970. This data demonstrates the utility of plant species data housed in the National Herbaria and how such data can be used to map floristic changes and patterns.

Identification of DWI behavior patterns and methods for change

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1982-09-01

The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of behavior leading to driving while intoxicated (DWI), and to propose countermeasures for altering these patterns before they result in DWI. Two samples were studied: Los Angeles high school student...

Phylogeny and patterns of diversity of goat mtDNA haplogroup A revealed by resequencing complete mitogenomes.

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Maria Grazia Doro

Full Text Available We sequenced to near completion the entire mtDNA of 28 Sardinian goats, selected to represent the widest possible diversity of the most widespread mitochondrial evolutionary lineage, haplogroup (Hg A. These specimens were reporters of the diversity in the island but also elsewhere, as inferred from their affiliation to each of 11 clades defined by D-loop variation. Two reference sequences completed the dataset. Overall, 206 variations were found in the full set of 30 sequences, of which 23 were protein-coding non-synonymous single nucleotide substitutions. Many polymorphic sites within Hg A were informative for the reconstruction of its internal phylogeny. Bayesian and network clustering revealed a general similarity over the entire molecule of sequences previously assigned to the same D-loop clade, indicating evolutionarily meaningful lineages. Two major sister groupings emerged within Hg A, which parallel distinct geographical distributions of D-loop clades in extant stocks. The pattern of variation in protein-coding genes revealed an overwhelming role of purifying selection, with the quota of surviving variants approaching neutrality. However, a simple model of relaxation of selection for the bulk of variants here reported should be rejected. Non-synonymous diversity of Hg's A, B and C denoted that a proportion of variants not greater than that allowed in the wild was given the opportunity to spread into domesticated stocks. Our results also confirmed that a remarkable proportion of pre-existing Hg A diversity became incorporated into domestic stocks. Our results confirm clade A11 as a well differentiated and ancient lineage peculiar of Sardinia.

Microbiology and antimicrobial susceptibility of otitis externa: a changing pattern of antimicrobial resistance.

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Heward, E; Cullen, M; Hobson, J

2018-04-01

Otitis externa is a common presentation to secondary care otolaryngology clinics. Despite this, few studies have investigated the microbiology and antimicrobial resistance of otitis externa. This study aimed to examine these issues. Analysis identified 302 swabs taken from 217 patients (100 male, 117 female), between 1 January 2015 and 30 March 2016, at our rapid access otolaryngology clinic. In total, 315 organisms were isolated; the most frequent was Pseudomonas aeruginosa (31.1 per cent), followed by candida species (22.9 per cent) and Staphylococcus aureus (11.7 per cent). P aeruginosa was sensitive to ciprofloxacin in 97.7 per cent of cases and to gentamicin in 78.4 per cent. Compared with studies worldwide, the relative proportions of different organisms causing otitis externa and the patterns of antimicrobial resistance differ. Increasing resistance of P aeruginosa to aminoglycosides demonstrates a changing pattern of antimicrobial resistance that has not been previously reported. Reassuringly, quinolone antibiotics remain highly effective when treating P aeruginosa.

Pattern changes in determinants of Chinese emissions

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Mi, Zhifu; Meng, Jing; Guan, Dabo; Shan, Yuli; Liu, Zhu; Wang, Yutao; Feng, Kuishuang; Wei, Yi-Ming

2017-07-01

The Chinese economy has been recovering slowly from the global financial crisis, but it cannot achieve the same rapid development of the pre-recession period. Instead, the country has entered a new phase of economic development—a ‘new normal’. We use a structural decomposition analysis and environmental input-output analysis to estimate the determinants of China’s carbon emission changes during 2005-2012. China’s imports are linked to a global multi-regional input-output model based on the Global Trade and Analysis Project database to calculate the embodied CO2 emissions in imports. We find that the global financial crisis has affected the drivers of China’s carbon emission growth. From 2007 to 2010, the CO2 emissions induced by China’s exports dropped, whereas emissions induced by capital formation grew rapidly. In the ‘new normal’, the strongest factors that offset CO2 emissions have shifted from efficiency gains to structural upgrading. Efficiency was the strongest factor offsetting China’s CO2 emissions before 2010 but drove a 1.4% increase in emissions in the period 2010-2012. By contrast, production structure and consumption patterns caused a 2.6% and 1.3% decrease, respectively, in China’s carbon emissions from 2010 to 2012. In addition, China tends to shift gradually from an investment to a consumption-driven economy. The proportion of CO2 emissions induced by consumption had a declining trend before 2010 but grew from 28.6%-29.1% during 2010-2012.

Changes of gait pattern in children with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A: a 18 months follow-up study.

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Ferrarin, Maurizio; Lencioni, Tiziana; Rabuffetti, Marco; Moroni, Isabella; Pagliano, Emanuela; Pareyson, Davide

2013-07-02

In a previous study we identified 3 different gait patterns in a group of children with CMT1A disease: Normal-like (NL), Foot-drop (FD), Foot-drop and Push-off Deficit (FD&POD). Goal of the present study was to perform a follow-up evaluation of the same group of patients to analyze possible changes of gait features in relation to disease progression or specific therapy. Nineteen children with CMT1A were evaluated clinically (CMT-Examination Score and Overall Neuropathy Limitation Scale) and through gait analysis 18.2±1.5 months after a baseline evaluation. Meanwhile, 3 of them had foot surgery. Fifteen out of the 16 non-operated patients significantly changed at least one of the two parameters associated to primary signs (FD and/or POD). Eleven participants worsened at least one parameter and 9 improved one parameter. CMTES significantly worsened for the group of non-operated patients. However, there was no change in CMTES score in 4 patients and in ONLS score in 11. At subgroup level, participants originally belonging to NL group showed a trend towards a foot-drop deficit (-15%, ns); FD and FD&POD subgroups did not change their primary signs, although significant changes were identified individually. All 3 patients operated have improved push-off and proximal joint patterns during walking. Clinical scores did not change within any sub-group. Subtle changes occurring in 1.5 year in gait features of CMT1A children can be instrumentally identified. Such changes show a large inter-subject variability, with some patients even improving their walking pattern. There is anecdotal evidence that foot surgery may improve the push-off phase of gait.

The Changing Patterns of Individual and School Effects on Educational Transitions. Evidence from Catalan Data (Spain)

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Benito, Ricard; Alegre, Miquel Angel

2012-01-01

Background: This article engages with the tradition of educational transitions research, particularly with its attempt to evaluate the effect of exogenous variables on educational attainment. The study revisits a number of hypotheses that have attempted to explain the changing patterns of such effects throughout students' educational career,…

Investigation on the Patterns of Global Vegetation Change Using a Satellite-Sensed Vegetation Index

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Ainong Li

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The pattern of vegetation change in response to global change still remains a controversial issue. A Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI dataset compiled by the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies (GIMMS was used for analysis. For the period 1982–2006, GIMMS-NDVI analysis indicated that monthly NDVI changes show homogenous trends in middle and high latitude areas in the northern hemisphere and within, or near, the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn; with obvious spatio-temporal heterogeneity on a global scale over the past two decades. The former areas featured increasing vegetation activity during growth seasons, and the latter areas experienced an even greater amplitude in places where precipitation is adequate. The discussion suggests that one should be cautious of using the NDVI time-series to analyze local vegetation dynamics because of its coarse resolution and uncertainties.

Association of Taiwan’s Rainfall Patterns with Large-Scale Oceanic and Atmospheric Phenomena

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Yi-Chun Kuo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available A 50-year (1960–2009 monthly rainfall gridded dataset produced by the Taiwan Climate Change Projection and Information Platform Project was presented in this study. The gridded data (5 × 5 km displayed influence of topography on spatial variability of rainfall, and the results of the empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs analysis revealed the patterns associated with the large-scale sea surface temperature variability over Pacific. The first mode (65% revealed the annual peaks of large rainfall in the southwestern mountainous area, which is associated with southwest monsoons and typhoons during summertime. The second temporal EOF mode (16% revealed the rainfall variance associated with the monsoon and its interaction with the slopes of the mountain range. This pattern is the major contributor to spatial variance of rainfall in Taiwan, as indicated by the first mode (40% of spatial variance EOF analysis. The second temporal EOF mode correlated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO. In particular, during the autumn of the La Niña years following the strong El Niño years, the time-varying amplitude was substantially greater than that of normal years. The third temporal EOF mode (7% revealed a north-south out-of-phase rainfall pattern, the slowly evolving variations of which were in phase with the Pacific Decadal Oscillation. Because of Taiwan’s geographic location and the effect of local terrestrial structures, climate variability related to ENSO differed markedly from other regions in East Asia.

Postnatal mandible growth in wild and laboratory mice: Differences revealed from bone remodeling patterns and geometric morphometrics.

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Martínez-Vargas, Jessica; Muñoz-Muñoz, Francesc; Martinez-Maza, Cayetana; Molinero, Amalia; Ventura, Jacint

2017-08-01

Comparative information on the variation in the temporospatial patterning of mandible growth in wild and laboratory mice during early postnatal ontogeny is scarce but important to understand variation among wild rodent populations. Here, we compare mandible growth between two ontogenetic series from the second to the eighth week of postnatal life, corresponding to two different groups of mice reared under the same conditions: the classical inbred strain C57BL/6J, and Mus musculus domesticus. We characterize the ontogenetic patterns of bone remodeling of the mandibles belonging to these laboratory and wild mice by analyzing bone surface, as well as examine their ontogenetic form changes and bimodular organization using geometric morphometrics. Through ontogeny, the two mouse groups display similar directions of mandible growth, according to the temporospatial distribution of bone remodeling fields. The allometric shape variation of the mandibles of these mice entails the relative enlargement of the ascending ramus. The organization of the mandible into two modules is confirmed in both groups during the last postnatal weeks. However, especially after weaning, the mandibles of wild and laboratory mice differ in the timing and localization of several remodeling fields, in addition to exhibiting different patterns of shape variation and differences in size. The stimulation of dentary bone growth derived from the harder post-weaning diet might account for some features of postnatal mandible growth common to both groups. Nonetheless, a large component of the postnatal growth of the mouse mandible appears to be driven by the inherent genetic programs, which might explain between-group differences. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The spatial pattern of leaf phenology and its response to climate change in China.

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Dai, Junhu; Wang, Huanjiong; Ge, Quansheng

2014-05-01

Leaf phenology has been shown to be one of the most important indicators of the effects of climate change on biological systems. Few such studies have, however, been published detailing the relationship between phenology and climate change in Asian contexts. With the aim of quantifying species' phenological responsiveness to temperature and deepening understandings of spatial patterns of phenological and climate change in China, this study analyzes the first leaf date (FLD) and the leaf coloring date (LCD) from datasets of four woody plant species, Robinia pseudoacacia, Ulmus pumila, Salix babylonica, and Melia azedarach, collected from 1963 to 2009 at 47 Chinese Phenological Observation Network (CPON) stations spread across China (from 21° to 50° N). The results of this study show that changes in temperatures in the range of 39-43 days preceding the date of FLD of these plants affected annual variations in FLD, while annual variations in temperature in the range of 71-85 days preceding LCD of these plants affected the date of LCD. Average temperature sensitivity of FLD and LCD for these plants was -3.93 to 3.30 days °C(-1) and 2.11 to 4.43 days °C⁻¹, respectively. Temperature sensitivity of FLD was found to be stronger at lower latitudes or altitude as well as in more continental climates, while the response of LCD showed no consistent pattern. Within the context of significant warming across China during the study period, FLD was found to have advanced by 5.44 days from 1960 to 2009; over the same period, LCD was found to have been delayed by 4.56 days. These findings indicate that the length of the growing season of the four plant species studied was extended by a total of 10.00 days from 1960 to 2009. They also indicate that phenological response to climate is highly heterogeneous spatially.

Multivariate pattern analysis reveals anatomical connectivity differences between the left and right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

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Fang, Peng; An, Jie; Zeng, Ling-Li; Shen, Hui; Chen, Fanglin; Wang, Wensheng; Qiu, Shijun; Hu, Dewen

2015-01-01

Previous studies have demonstrated differences of clinical signs and functional brain network organizations between the left and right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE), but the anatomical connectivity differences underlying functional variance between the left and right mTLE remain uncharacterized. We examined 43 (22 left, 21 right) mTLE patients with hippocampal sclerosis and 39 healthy controls using diffusion tensor imaging. After the whole-brain anatomical networks were constructed for each subject, multivariate pattern analysis was applied to classify the left mTLE from the right mTLE and extract the anatomical connectivity differences between the left and right mTLE patients. The classification results reveal 93.0% accuracy for the left mTLE versus the right mTLE, 93.4% accuracy for the left mTLE versus controls and 90.0% accuracy for the right mTLE versus controls. Compared with the right mTLE, the left mTLE exhibited a different connectivity pattern in the cortical-limbic network and cerebellum. The majority of the most discriminating anatomical connections were located within or across the cortical-limbic network and cerebellum, thereby indicating that these disease-related anatomical network alterations may give rise to a portion of the complex of emotional and memory deficit between the left and right mTLE. Moreover, the orbitofrontal gyrus, cingulate cortex, hippocampus and parahippocampal gyrus, which exhibit high discriminative power in classification, may play critical roles in the pathophysiology of mTLE. The current study demonstrated that anatomical connectivity differences between the left mTLE and the right mTLE may have the potential to serve as a neuroimaging biomarker to guide personalized diagnosis of the left and right mTLE.

Segment polarity gene expression in a myriapod reveals conserved and diverged aspects of early head patterning in arthropods.

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Janssen, Ralf

2012-09-01

Arthropods show two kinds of developmental mode. In the so-called long germ developmental mode (as exemplified by the fly Drosophila), all segments are formed almost simultaneously from a preexisting field of cells. In contrast, in the so-called short germ developmental mode (as exemplified by the vast majority of arthropods), only the anterior segments are patterned similarly as in Drosophila, and posterior segments are added in a single or double segmental periodicity from a posterior segment addition zone (SAZ). The addition of segments from the SAZ is controlled by dynamic waves of gene activity. Recent studies on a spider have revealed that a similar dynamic process, involving expression of the segment polarity gene (SPG) hedgehog (hh), is involved in the formation of the anterior head segments. The present study shows that in the myriapod Glomeris marginata the early expression of hh is also in a broad anterior domain, but this domain corresponds only to the ocular and antennal segment. It does not, like in spiders, represent expression in the posterior adjacent segment. In contrast, the anterior hh pattern is conserved in Glomeris and insects. All investigated myriapod SPGs and associated factors are expressed with delay in the premandibular (tritocerebral) segment. This delay is exclusively found in insects and myriapods, but not in chelicerates, crustaceans and onychophorans. Therefore, it may represent a synapomorphy uniting insects and myriapods (Atelocerata hypothesis), contradicting the leading opinion that suggests a sister relationship of crustaceans and insects (Pancrustacea hypothesis). In Glomeris embryos, the SPG engrailed is first expressed in the mandibular segment. This feature is conserved in representatives of all arthropod classes suggesting that the mandibular segment may have a special function in anterior patterning.

Can preferred atmospheric circulation patterns over the North-Atlantic-Eurasian region be associated with arctic sea ice loss?

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Crasemann, Berit; Handorf, Dörthe; Jaiser, Ralf; Dethloff, Klaus; Nakamura, Tetsu; Ukita, Jinro; Yamazaki, Koji

2017-12-01

In the framework of atmospheric circulation regimes, we study whether the recent Arctic sea ice loss and Arctic Amplification are associated with changes in the frequency of occurrence of preferred atmospheric circulation patterns during the extended winter season from December to March. To determine regimes we applied a cluster analysis to sea-level pressure fields from reanalysis data and output from an atmospheric general circulation model. The specific set up of the two analyzed model simulations for low and high ice conditions allows for attributing differences between the simulations to the prescribed sea ice changes only. The reanalysis data revealed two circulation patterns that occur more frequently for low Arctic sea ice conditions: a Scandinavian blocking in December and January and a negative North Atlantic Oscillation pattern in February and March. An analysis of related patterns of synoptic-scale activity and 2 m temperatures provides a synoptic interpretation of the corresponding large-scale regimes. The regimes that occur more frequently for low sea ice conditions are resembled reasonably well by the model simulations. Based on those results we conclude that the detected changes in the frequency of occurrence of large-scale circulation patterns can be associated with changes in Arctic sea ice conditions.

Large-scale patterns of turnover and Basal area change in Andean forests.

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Selene Báez

Full Text Available General patterns of forest dynamics and productivity in the Andes Mountains are poorly characterized. Here we present the first large-scale study of Andean forest dynamics using a set of 63 permanent forest plots assembled over the past two decades. In the North-Central Andes tree turnover (mortality and recruitment and tree growth declined with increasing elevation and decreasing temperature. In addition, basal area increased in Lower Montane Moist Forests but did not change in Higher Montane Humid Forests. However, at higher elevations the lack of net basal area change and excess of mortality over recruitment suggests negative environmental impacts. In North-Western Argentina, forest dynamics appear to be influenced by land use history in addition to environmental variation. Taken together, our results indicate that combinations of abiotic and biotic factors that vary across elevation gradients are important determinants of tree turnover and productivity in the Andes. More extensive and longer-term monitoring and analyses of forest dynamics in permanent plots will be necessary to understand how demographic processes and woody biomass are responding to changing environmental conditions along elevation gradients through this century.

Hydrology of the Po River: looking for changing patterns in river discharge

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A. Montanari

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Scientists and public administrators are devoting increasing attention to the Po River, in Italy, in view of concerns related to the impact of increasing urbanisation and exploitation of water resources. A better understanding of the hydrological regime of the river is necessary to improve water resources management and flood protection. In particular, the analysis of the effects of hydrological and climatic change is crucial for planning sustainable development and economic growth. An extremely interesting issue is to inspect to what extent river flows can be naturally affected by the occurrence of long periods of water abundance or scarcity, which can be erroneously interpreted as irreversible changes due to human impact. In fact, drought and flood periods alternatively occurred in the recent past in the form of long-term fluctuations. This paper presents advanced graphical and analytical methods to gain a better understanding of the temporal distribution of the Po River discharge. In particular, we present an analysis of river flow variability and persistence properties, to gain a better understanding of natural patterns, and in particular long-term changes, which may affect the future flood risk and availability of water resources.

Hydrology of the Po River: looking for changing patterns in river discharge

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Montanari, A.

2012-05-01

Scientists and public administrators are devoting increasing attention to the Po River, in Italy, in view of concerns related to the impact of increasing urbanisation and exploitation of water resources. A better understanding of the hydrological regime of the river is necessary to improve water resources management and flood protection. In particular, the analysis of the effects of hydrological and climatic change is crucial for planning sustainable development and economic growth. An extremely interesting issue is to inspect to what extent river flows can be naturally affected by the occurrence of long periods of water abundance or scarcity, which can be erroneously interpreted as irreversible changes due to human impact. In fact, drought and flood periods alternatively occurred in the recent past in the form of long term cycles. This paper presents advanced graphical and analytical methods to gain a better understanding of the temporal distribution of the Po River discharge. In particular, we present an analysis of river flow variability and memory properties to better understand natural patterns and in particular long term changes, which may affect the future flood risk and availability of water resources.

Pattern Dystrophy of the Macula in a Case of Steinert Disease

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Filipe Esteves

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Myotonic dystrophies are typically associated with ocular complications like ptosis, weakness of the ocular muscle and cataracts, but also with less recognized retinal changes. Case Report: A 41-year-old female with type 1 myotonic dystrophy complained of progressive vision loss. Slit lamp examination revealed the presence of typical bilateral polychromatic cataract with posterior subcapsular component. Dilated fundus examination was remarkable for bilateral macular depigmented changes. Multimodal imaging analysis of the macula suggested the presence of a butterfly-shaped pattern dystrophy. Discussion: In cases of myotonic dystrophies it is of great relevance to analyze the presence of retinal changes that might limit the visual improvement following cataract extraction.

Measuring patterns in team interaction sequences using a discrete recurrence approach.

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Gorman, Jamie C; Cooke, Nancy J; Amazeen, Polemnia G; Fouse, Shannon

2012-08-01

Recurrence-based measures of communication determinism and pattern information are described and validated using previously collected team interaction data. Team coordination dynamics has revealed that"mixing" team membership can lead to flexible interaction processes, but keeping a team "intact" can lead to rigid interaction processes. We hypothesized that communication of intact teams would have greater determinism and higher pattern information compared to that of mixed teams. Determinism and pattern information were measured from three-person Uninhabited Air Vehicle team communication sequences over a series of 40-minute missions. Because team members communicated using push-to-talk buttons, communication sequences were automatically generated during each mission. The Composition x Mission determinism effect was significant. Intact teams' determinism increased over missions, whereas mixed teams' determinism did not change. Intact teams had significantly higher maximum pattern information than mixed teams. Results from these new communication analysis methods converge with content-based methods and support our hypotheses. Because they are not content based, and because they are automatic and fast, these new methods may be amenable to real-time communication pattern analysis.

Altered Precipitation and Flow Patterns in the Dunajec River Basin

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Mariola Kędra

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes changes in long-term patterns of precipitation and river flow, as well as changes in their variability over the most recent 60 years (1956–2015. The study area is situated in the mountain basin of the Dunajec River, encompassing streams draining the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland. The focus of the study was to evaluate how regional warming translates into precipitation changes in the studied mountain region, and how changes in climate affect sub-regional hydrology. Monthly time series of precipitation measured at several sites were compared for two 30-year periods (1986–2015 versus 1956–1985. The significance of the difference between the periods in question was evaluated by means of the Wilcoxon signed rank test with the Bonferroni correction. The identified shifts in precipitation for 6 months are statistically significant and largely consistent with the revealed changes in river flow patterns. Moreover, significant differences in precipitation variability were noted in the study area, resulting in a significant decrease in the repeatability of precipitation over the most recent 30 years (1986–2015. Changes in the variability of the river flow studied were less visible in this particular mountain region (while significant for two months; however, the overall repeatability of river flow decreased significantly at the same rate as for precipitation.

Chronic malaria revealed by a new fluorescence pattern on the antinuclear autoantibodies test.

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Benjamin Hommel

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Several clinical forms of malaria such as chronic carriage, gestational malaria or hyper-reactive malarial splenomegaly may follow a cryptic evolution with afebrile chronic fatigue sometimes accompanied by anemia and/or splenomegaly. Conventional parasitological tests are often negative or not performed, and severe complications may occur. Extensive explorations of these conditions often include the search for antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA. METHODS: We analysed fluorescence patterns in the ANA test in patients with either chronic cryptic or acute symptomatic malaria, then conducted a one-year prospective study at a single hospital on all available sera drawn for ANA detections. We then identified autoantibodies differentially expressed in malaria patients and in controls using human protein microarray. RESULTS: We uncovered and defined a new, malaria-related, nucleo-cytoplasmic ANA pattern displaying the specific association of a nuclear speckled pattern with diffuse cytoplasmic perinuclearly-enhanced fluorescence. In the one-year prospective analysis, 79% of sera displaying this new nucleo-cytoplasmic fluorescence were from patients with malaria. This specific pattern, not seen in other parasitic diseases, allowed a timely reorientation of the diagnosis toward malaria. To assess if the autoantibody immune response was due to autoreactivity or molecular mimicry we isolated 42 autoantigens, targets of malarial autoantibodies. BLAST analysis indicated that 23 of recognized autoantigens were homologous to plasmodial proteins suggesting autoimmune responses directly driven by the plasmodial infection. CONCLUSION: In patients with malaria in whom parasitological tests have not been performed recognition of this new, malaria-related fluorescence pattern on the ANA test is highly suggestive of the diagnosis and triggers immediate, easy confirmation and adapted therapy.

Patterns of poverty exposure and children’s trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors

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Jinette Comeau

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Using data from the Child Supplement of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we compare trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors among children exposed to five patterns of poverty from birth to age 14: always or never poor – stable patterns; a single transition into or out of poverty, or repeated fluctuations in and out of poverty – changing patterns. We also examine how low maternal education and single parenthood interact with these poverty exposures to compound their adverse effects. Finally, we compare the magnitude of effects associated with the patterns of poverty exposure, as well as their interactions with low maternal education and single parenthood, on trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors to determine if they are significantly different. Results reveal that initial levels and rates of change in children’s trajectories of externalizing and internalizing behaviors are similar across the three changing patterns of poverty exposure, leading us to combine them into a single group representing intermittent poverty. Initial disparities between children who are never poor and their counterparts who are always or intermittently poor are constant over time for internalizing behaviors and grow in magnitude for externalizing behaviors. The cumulative negative effect of poverty exposure over time is stronger for externalizing vs. internalizing behaviors. Low maternal education compounds the adverse effects of persistent poverty, an effect that is similar for externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Keywords: United States, Poverty, Child mental health disparities, Externalizing behaviors, Internalizing behaviors, Multiple risk exposure

Dietary patterns and changes in body composition in children between 9 and 11 years

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Smith, Andrew D. A. C.; Emmett, Pauline M.; Newby, P. K.; Northstone, Kate

2014-01-01

Objective Childhood obesity is rising and dietary intake is a potentially modifiable factor that plays an important role in its development. We aim to investigate the association between dietary patterns, obtained through principal components analysis and gains in fat and lean mass in childhood. Design Diet diaries at 10 years of age collected from children taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 9 and 11. Setting Longitudinal birth cohort. Subjects 3911 children with complete data. Results There was an association between the Health Aware (positive loadings on high-fiber bread, and fruits and vegetables; negative loadings on chips, crisps, processed meat, and soft drinks) pattern score and decreased fat mass gain in girls. After adjusting for confounders, an increase of 1 standard deviation (sd) in this score led to an estimated 1.2% decrease in fat mass gain in valid-reporters and 2.1% in under-reporters. A similar decrease was found only in under-reporting boys. There was also an association between the Packed Lunch (high consumption of white bread, sandwich fillings, and snacks) pattern score and decreased fat mass gain (1.1% per sd) in valid-reporting but not under-reporting girls. The main association with lean mass gain was an increase with Packed Lunch pattern score in valid-reporting boys only. Conclusions There is a small association between dietary patterns and change in fat mass in mid-childhood. Differences between under- and valid-reporters emphasize the need to consider valid-reporters separately in such studies. PMID:25018688

Dietary patterns and changes in body composition in children between 9 and 11 years

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Andrew D. A. C. Smith

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Objective: Childhood obesity is rising and dietary intake is a potentially modifiable factor that plays an important role in its development. We aim to investigate the association between dietary patterns, obtained through principal components analysis and gains in fat and lean mass in childhood. Design: Diet diaries at 10 years of age collected from children taking part in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Body composition was assessed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at 9 and 11. Setting: Longitudinal birth cohort. Subjects: 3911 children with complete data. Results: There was an association between the Health Aware (positive loadings on high-fiber bread, and fruits and vegetables; negative loadings on chips, crisps, processed meat, and soft drinks pattern score and decreased fat mass gain in girls. After adjusting for confounders, an increase of 1 standard deviation (sd in this score led to an estimated 1.2% decrease in fat mass gain in valid-reporters and 2.1% in under-reporters. A similar decrease was found only in under-reporting boys. There was also an association between the Packed Lunch (high consumption of white bread, sandwich fillings, and snacks pattern score and decreased fat mass gain (1.1% per sd in valid-reporting but not under-reporting girls. The main association with lean mass gain was an increase with Packed Lunch pattern score in valid-reporting boys only. Conclusions: There is a small association between dietary patterns and change in fat mass in mid-childhood. Differences between under- and valid-reporters emphasize the need to consider valid-reporters separately in such studies.

Historical Patterns and Drivers of Spatial Changes in Recreational Fishing Activity in Puget Sound, Washington.

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Anne H Beaudreau

Full Text Available Small-scale fisheries are the primary users of many coastal fish stocks; yet, spatial and temporal patterns of recreational and subsistence fishing in coastal marine ecosystems are poorly documented. Knowledge about the spatial distribution of fishing activities can inform place-based management that balances species conservation with opportunities for recreation and subsistence. We used a participatory mapping approach to document changes in spatial fishing patterns of 80 boat-based recreational anglers from 1950 to 2010 in Puget Sound, Washington, USA. Hand-drawn fishing areas for salmon, rockfishes, flatfishes, and crabs were digitized and analyzed in a Geographic Information System. We found that recreational fishing has spanned the majority of Puget Sound since the 1950s, with the heaviest use limited to small areas of central and northern Puget Sound. People are still fishing in the same places they were decades ago, with relatively little change in specific locations despite widespread declines in salmon and bottomfish populations during the second half of the 20th century. While the location of core fishing areas remained consistent, the size of those areas and intensity of use changed over time. The size of fishing areas increased through the 2000s for salmon but declined after the 1970s and 1980s for rockfishes, flatfishes, and crabs. Our results suggest that the spatial extent of recreational bottomfishing increased after the 1960s, when the availability of motorized vessels and advanced fish-finding technologies allowed anglers to expand their scope beyond localized angling from piers and boathouses. Respondents offered a wide range of reasons for shifts in fishing areas over time, reflecting substantial individual variation in motivations and behaviors. Changes in fishing areas were most commonly attributed to changes in residence and declines in target species and least tied to fishery regulations, despite the implementation of at

Historical Patterns and Drivers of Spatial Changes in Recreational Fishing Activity in Puget Sound, Washington

Science.gov (United States)

Beaudreau, Anne H.; Whitney, Emily J.

2016-01-01

Small-scale fisheries are the primary users of many coastal fish stocks; yet, spatial and temporal patterns of recreational and subsistence fishing in coastal marine ecosystems are poorly documented. Knowledge about the spatial distribution of fishing activities can inform place-based management that balances species conservation with opportunities for recreation and subsistence. We used a participatory mapping approach to document changes in spatial fishing patterns of 80 boat-based recreational anglers from 1950 to 2010 in Puget Sound, Washington, USA. Hand-drawn fishing areas for salmon, rockfishes, flatfishes, and crabs were digitized and analyzed in a Geographic Information System. We found that recreational fishing has spanned the majority of Puget Sound since the 1950s, with the heaviest use limited to small areas of central and northern Puget Sound. People are still fishing in the same places they were decades ago, with relatively little change in specific locations despite widespread declines in salmon and bottomfish populations during the second half of the 20th century. While the location of core fishing areas remained consistent, the size of those areas and intensity of use changed over time. The size of fishing areas increased through the 2000s for salmon but declined after the 1970s and 1980s for rockfishes, flatfishes, and crabs. Our results suggest that the spatial extent of recreational bottomfishing increased after the 1960s, when the availability of motorized vessels and advanced fish-finding technologies allowed anglers to expand their scope beyond localized angling from piers and boathouses. Respondents offered a wide range of reasons for shifts in fishing areas over time, reflecting substantial individual variation in motivations and behaviors. Changes in fishing areas were most commonly attributed to changes in residence and declines in target species and least tied to fishery regulations, despite the implementation of at least 25 marine

Changing Age and Household Patterns

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Højbjerg Jacobsen, Rasmus; Hougaard Jensen, Svend E.

2014-01-01

finances by almost 1% of GDP on the yearly budget. While the net fiscal effect of changing household structures is minor, the gross effects are substantial. In a future characterized by population ageing, public finances may be adversely affected by changes in both age and household structures, thus...

Chromosome-wide mapping of DNA methylation patterns in normal and malignant prostate cells reveals pervasive methylation of gene-associated and conserved intergenic sequences

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De Marzo Angelo M

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background DNA methylation has been linked to genome regulation and dysregulation in health and disease respectively, and methods for characterizing genomic DNA methylation patterns are rapidly emerging. We have developed/refined methods for enrichment of methylated genomic fragments using the methyl-binding domain of the human MBD2 protein (MBD2-MBD followed by analysis with high-density tiling microarrays. This MBD-chip approach was used to characterize DNA methylation patterns across all non-repetitive sequences of human chromosomes 21 and 22 at high-resolution in normal and malignant prostate cells. Results Examining this data using computational methods that were designed specifically for DNA methylation tiling array data revealed widespread methylation of both gene promoter and non-promoter regions in cancer and normal cells. In addition to identifying several novel cancer hypermethylated 5' gene upstream regions that mediated epigenetic gene silencing, we also found several hypermethylated 3' gene downstream, intragenic and intergenic regions. The hypermethylated intragenic regions were highly enriched for overlap with intron-exon boundaries, suggesting a possible role in regulation of alternative transcriptional start sites, exon usage and/or splicing. The hypermethylated intergenic regions showed significant enrichment for conservation across vertebrate species. A sampling of these newly identified promoter (ADAMTS1 and SCARF2 genes and non-promoter (downstream or within DSCR9, C21orf57 and HLCS genes hypermethylated regions were effective in distinguishing malignant from normal prostate tissues and/or cell lines. Conclusions Comparison of chromosome-wide DNA methylation patterns in normal and malignant prostate cells revealed significant methylation of gene-proximal and conserved intergenic sequences. Such analyses can be easily extended for genome-wide methylation analysis in health and disease.

Transcriptomics reveal several gene expression patterns in the piezophile Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis in response to hydrostatic pressure.

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Amira Amrani

Full Text Available RNA-seq was used to study the response of Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis, isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal chimney on the East-Pacific Rise at a depth of 2,600 m, to various hydrostatic pressure growth conditions. The transcriptomic datasets obtained after growth at 26, 10 and 0.1 MPa identified only 65 differentially expressed genes that were distributed among four main categories: aromatic amino acid and glutamate metabolisms, energy metabolism, signal transduction, and unknown function. The gene expression patterns suggest that D. hydrothermalis uses at least three different adaptation mechanisms, according to a hydrostatic pressure threshold (HPt that was estimated to be above 10 MPa. Both glutamate and energy metabolism were found to play crucial roles in these mechanisms. Quantitation of the glutamate levels in cells revealed its accumulation at high hydrostatic pressure, suggesting its role as a piezolyte. ATP measurements showed that the energy metabolism of this bacterium is optimized for deep-sea life conditions. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms linked to hydrostatic pressure adaptation in sulfate-reducing bacteria.

Transcriptomics Reveal Several Gene Expression Patterns in the Piezophile Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis in Response to Hydrostatic Pressure

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Amrani, Amira; Bergon, Aurélie; Holota, Hélène; Tamburini, Christian; Garel, Marc; Ollivier, Bernard; Imbert, Jean; Dolla, Alain; Pradel, Nathalie

2014-01-01

RNA-seq was used to study the response of Desulfovibrio hydrothermalis, isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal chimney on the East-Pacific Rise at a depth of 2,600 m, to various hydrostatic pressure growth conditions. The transcriptomic datasets obtained after growth at 26, 10 and 0.1 MPa identified only 65 differentially expressed genes that were distributed among four main categories: aromatic amino acid and glutamate metabolisms, energy metabolism, signal transduction, and unknown function. The gene expression patterns suggest that D. hydrothermalis uses at least three different adaptation mechanisms, according to a hydrostatic pressure threshold (HPt) that was estimated to be above 10 MPa. Both glutamate and energy metabolism were found to play crucial roles in these mechanisms. Quantitation of the glutamate levels in cells revealed its accumulation at high hydrostatic pressure, suggesting its role as a piezolyte. ATP measurements showed that the energy metabolism of this bacterium is optimized for deep-sea life conditions. This study provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms linked to hydrostatic pressure adaptation in sulfate-reducing bacteria. PMID:25215865

Change of Land Use Patterns in the Areas Close to the Airport Development Area and Some Implicating Factors