Biomass distribution among tropical tree species grown under\ud differing regional climates

In the Neotropics, there is a growing interest in establishing plantations of native tree species for commerce, local consumption, and to replant on abandoned agricultural lands. Although numerous trial plantations have been established, comparative information on the performance of native trees under different regional environments is generally lacking. In this study, we evaluated the accumulation and partitioning of above-ground biomass in 16 native and two exotic tree species growing in replicated species selection trials in Panama under humid and dry regional environments. Seven of the 18 species accumulated greater total biomass at the humid site than at the dry site over a two-year period. Species specific biomass partitioning among leaves, branches and trunks was observed. However, awide range of total biomass found among species (from 1.06 kg for Dipteryx panamensis to 29.84 kg for Acacia mangium at Soberania) justified the used of an Aitchison log ratio transformation to adjust for size. When biomass partitioning was adjusted for size, a majority of these differences proved to be a result of the ability of the tree to support biomass components rather than the result of differences in the regional environments at the two sites. These findings were confirmed by comparative ANCOVAs on Aitchison-transformed and non-Aitchison-transformed variables. In these comparisons, basal diameter, height and diameter at breast height were robust predictors of biomass for the pooled data from both sites, but Aitchison-transformed\ud variables had little predictive power

Antiviral treatment for Bell's palsy (idiopathic facial paralysis)

BACKGROUND: Antiviral agents against herpes simplex virus are widely used in the treatment of idiopathic facial paralysis (Bell's palsy), but their effectiveness is uncertain. Significant morbidity can be associated with severe cases. OBJECTIVES: This review addresses the effect of antiviral therapy on Bell's palsy. SEARCH STRATEGY: We updated the search of the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Trials Register (December 2008), MEDLINE (from January 1966 to December 8 2008), EMBASE (from January 1980 to December 8 2008) and LILACS (from January 1982 to December 2008). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized trials of antivirals with and without corticosteroids versus control therapies for the treatment of Bell's palsy. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Twenty-three papers were selected for consideration. MAIN RESULTS: Seven trials including 1987 participants met the inclusion criteria, adding five studies to the two in the previous review.Incomplete recovery at one year. There was no significant benefit in the rate of incomplete recovery from antivirals compared with placebo (n = 1886, RR 0.88, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.18). In meta-analyses with some unexplained heterogeneity, the outcome with antivirals was significantly worse than with corticosteroids (n = 768, RR 2.82, 95% CI 1.09 to 7.32) and the outcome with antivirals plus corticosteroids was significantly better than with placebo (n = 658, RR 0.56, 95% CI 0.41 to 0.76).Motor synkinesis or crocodile tears at one year. In single trials, there was no significant difference in long term sequelae comparing antivirals and corticosteroids with corticosteroids alone (n = 99, RR 0.39, 95% CI 0.14 to 1.07) or antivirals with corticosteroids (n = 101, RR 1.03, 95% CI 0.51 to 2.07).Adverse events.There was no significant difference in rates of adverse events between antivirals and placebo (n = 1544, RR 1.06, 95% CI 0.81 to 1.38), between antivirals and corticosteroids (n = 667, RR 0.96, 95% CI 0.65 to 1.41) or between the antiviral-corticosteroid combination and placebo (n = 658, RR 1.15, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.66). AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: High quality evidence showed no significant benefit from anti-herpes simplex antivirals compared with placebo in producing complete recovery from Bell's palsy. Moderate quality evidence showed that antivirals were significantly less likely than corticosteroids to produce complete recovery.</p

The Zethus of Venezuela (Hymenoptera: Eumenidae)

Thirty four species of Zethus are enumerated from Venezuela, providing known and new locality records. Six new species are described: Z. rubioi and Z. vincenti in the subgenus Zethusculus, Z. carpenteri and Z. milleri in the subgenus Zethoides, and Z. bolivarensis and Z. yepezi in the nominate subgenus. A key to the species of Venezuela is provided. The distribution patterns of Zethus are discussed

Tropical Cyclone Intensity Estimation Using Multi-Dimensional Convolutional Neural Networks from Geostationary Satellite Data

For a long time, researchers have tried to find a way to analyze tropical cyclone (TC) intensity in real-time. Since there is no standardized method for estimating TC intensity and the most widely used method is a manual algorithm using satellite-based cloud images, there is a bias that varies depending on the TC center and shape. In this study, we adopted convolutional neural networks (CNNs) which are part of a state-of-art approach that analyzes image patterns to estimate TC intensity by mimicking human cloud pattern recognition. Both two dimensional-CNN (2D-CNN) and three-dimensional-CNN (3D-CNN) were used to analyze the relationship between multi-spectral geostationary satellite images and TC intensity. Our best-optimized model produced a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 8.32 kts, resulting in better performance (~35%) than the existing model using the CNN-based approach with a single channel image. Moreover, we analyzed the characteristics of multi-spectral satellite-based TC images according to intensity using a heat map, which is one of the visualization means of CNNs. It shows that the stronger the intensity of the TC, the greater the influence of the TC center in the lower atmosphere. This is consistent with the results from the existing TC initialization method with numerical simulations based on dynamical TC models. Our study suggests the possibility that a deep learning approach can be used to interpret the behavior characteristics of TCs

Audibility and Interpolation of Head-Above-Torso Orientation in Binaural Technology

Head-related transfer functions (HRTFs) incorporate fundamental cues required for human spatial hearing and are often applied to auralize results obtained from room acoustic simulations. HRTFs are typically available for various directions of sound incidence and a fixed head-above-torso orientation (HATO). If-in interactive auralizations-HRTFs are exchanged according to the head rotations of a listener, the auralization result most often corresponds to a listener turning head and torso simultaneously, while-in reality-listeners usually turn their head independently above a fixed torso. In the present study, we show that accounting for HATO produces clearly audible differences, thereby suggesting the relevance of correct HATO when aiming at perceptually transparent binaural synthesis. Furthermore, we addressed the efficient representation of variable HATO in interactive acoustic simulations using spatial interpolation. Hereby, we evaluated two different approaches: interpolating between HRTFs with identical torso-to-source but different head-to-source orientations (head interpolation) and interpolating between HRTFs with the same head-to-source but different torso-to-source orientations (torso interpolation). Torso interpolation turned out to be more robust against increasing interpolation step width. In this case the median threshold of audibility for the head-above-torso resolution was about 25 degrees, whereas with head interpolation the threshold was about 10 degrees. Additionally, we tested a non-interpolation approach (nearest neighbor) as a suitable means for mobile applications with limited computational capacities

MENGEMBANGKAN KEMAMPUAN MENGELOLA PERILAKU DISIPLIN DENGAN TEKNIK TOKEN ECONOMY: Studi penelitian tindakan partisipatoris praktisi-akademisi di Sekolah Dasar Negeri 01 Mampang, Depok, Jawa Barat

Penelitian ini dilatarbelakangi oleh pentingnya kemampuan mengelola perilaku disiplin bagi siswa di salah satu sekolah dasar yang berada di wilayah kantong kemiskinan Kota Depok. Tujuan penelitian adalah membuktikan bahwa penerapan teknik token economy dapat mengembangkan kemampuan mengelola perilaku bagi siswa sekolah dasar tersebut. Penelitian menggunakan metode penelitian tindakan partisipatif disertai dengan dua tahap penelitian yaitu tahap penelitian pendahuluan (baseline) dan tahap pelaksanaan siklus penelitian. Siklus dilakukan sebanyak tiga kali dengan rentang waktu satu minggu pada setiap siklusnya. Instrument penelitian menggunakan pedoman wawancara, pedoman observasi dan pedoman penggunaan dokumentasi. Teknik analisis dilakukan secara deskriptif dengan melakukan reduksi, interpretasi, inferensi, dan tahap tindak lanjut, yaitu merumuskan langkah-langkah perbaikan siklus berikutnya. Subyek penelitian adalah seorang wali kelas dan 38 orang siswa. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan teknik token economy berhasil dalam mengembangkan pengelolaan perilaku disiplin bagi siswa. Hal tersebut dapat dilihat dari meningkatnya perilaku disiplin siswa di sekolah tersebut dari sejak pelaksanaan siklus satu sampai dengan siklus ketiga. Rekomendasi hasil penelitian ditujukan kepada: 1) guru sekolah dasar untuk menggunakan teknik token economy sebagai program pengelolaan perilaku yang mudah diterapkan di kelas, 2) manajemen sekolah dasar dapat membuat sistem pengelolaan perilaku yang mudah dievaluasi dalam lingkup sekolah, dan 3) peneliti selanjutnya untuk menggunakan teknik token economy untuk permasalahan selain dari perilaku disiplin. ---------- The background to this research was the importance of elementary students’ capability to manage discipline behavior especially to those who study in Depok poverty enclave area. The research was aimed to proven token economy technique able to develop the elementary students’ capability in that area to manage discipline behavior. The participants were one homeroom teacher and 38 students. It used participatory action research as the research method and it was done in three cycles. The protocol of interview, observation and documentation were used as the instrument. Data was descriptively analyzed by doing reduction, interpretation, inference, and follow up phase to formulized the revision of steps for the next cycle. The research result showed that token economy was succeed in developing elementary students’ capability to manage discipline behavior. The discipline behavior was increase since the first cycle to the third one. The research recommends that: 1) The elementary school teacher use token economy as a simple behavior management program in the classroom, 2) School management establish a token economy based system for whole school discipline policy, and 3) the future researcher develop the research by using token economy to handle problems other than discipline behavior