Species Richness and Trophic Diversity Increase Decomposition in a Co-Evolved Food Web

Ecological communities show great variation in species richness, composition and food web structure across similar and diverse ecosystems. Knowledge of how this biodiversity relates to ecosystem functioning is important for understanding the maintenance of diversity and the potential effects of species losses and gains on ecosystems. While research often focuses on how variation in species richness influences ecosystem processes, assessing species richness in a food web context can provide further insight into the relationship between diversity and ecosystem functioning and elucidate potential mechanisms underpinning this relationship. Here, we assessed how species richness and trophic diversity affect decomposition rates in a complete aquatic food web: the five trophic level web that occurs within water-filled leaves of the northern pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. We identified a trophic cascade in which top-predators — larvae of the pitcher-plant mosquito — indirectly increased bacterial decomposition by preying on bactivorous protozoa. Our data also revealed a facultative relationship in which larvae of the pitcher-plant midge increased bacterial decomposition by shredding detritus. These important interactions occur only in food webs with high trophic diversity, which in turn only occur in food webs with high species richness. We show that species richness and trophic diversity underlie strong linkages between food web structure and dynamics that influence ecosystem functioning. The importance of trophic diversity and species interactions in determining how biodiversity relates to ecosystem functioning suggests that simply focusing on species richness does not give a complete picture as to how ecosystems may change with the loss or gain of species

Recreational cycling in a coastal city: Investigating lifestyle, attitudes and built environment in cycling behavior

© 2018 Elsevier Ltd Active mobility and especially cycling can play an important role in increasing sustainable travel behavior of urban residents. While increased recreational cycling can lead to further bicycling for other purposes, this study highlights the factors influencing recreational cycling. Recreational cycling in a coastal city is explored through investigating individuals’ lifestyles, attitudes, and the effects of built environmental features on frequent cycling. Data were collected from 426 residents of Kish Island, an Iranian city which has been provided with well-designed, dedicated cycling paths. Using confirmatory factor analysis, lifestyle patterns have been extracted from leisure activities which are mostly engaged by both tourists and residents. Additionally, attitudes were evaluated by exploring individuals’ preferences through selecting various cycling facilities. Results from ordinal regression analysis revealed that residents with an active and beach-oriented lifestyle have a higher tendency toward recreational cycling. Among other classifications of attitudes, landscape design made the highest contribution to recreational cycling. Furthermore, findings demonstrated that network connectivity does not significantly influence recreational cycling. Although findings from this study suggest that identifying lifestyle patterns and cyclist attitudes in coastal cities can enhance the probability of recreational cycling among residents as well as tourists, they can also be of interest to planners and policy makers in terms of enhancing the frequency of cycling in other regions with similar situations, namely, being a tourist destination and having a well-organized infrastructure in terms of cycling paths and other required cycling facilities that support recreational as well as other types of cycling behavior

Mixed mode crack tip parameters for different wheel positions relative to a vertical crack at the rail foot

Finite element method is used to analyze a rail with a vertical bottom up crack at its foot, under the axle load and surface traction of a wheel. The possibility of crack formation at the foot of the rail in the neighborhood of a welding connection is discussed. A brief review on the importance of T-stress in brittle fracture is presented. Seven cases with different locations of the crack relative to rail's sleeper contact region are considered. Numerous positions of the wheel are considered, and in each case, 3 crack parameters K I , K II , and T-stress are calculated. Then, the biaxiality ratio and the mixity parameter for each loading and crack condition are calculated. It is shown that the location of crack and wheel can create mixed mode loading in the cracked rail and that the magnitude of crack tip parameters are strongly dependent on these geometric variables. In particular, the magnitudes of T-stress and biaxiality ratio are significant in some cases. The effect of friction between the crack faces in the presence of compressive mode I loading on the mode II stress intensity factor is studied. Under mixed mode loading, due to the axle load and surface traction, the most critical condition is the formation of vertical cracks near the sleeper contact region

Sensor Fusion for Vehicle Positioning in Intersection Active Safety Applications

Global Positioning System (GPS) is being increasingly used in active safety applications. One field of active safety in which navigation information can be used is Intersection Active Safety Applications (IASA) which requires a precise and continuous estimate of vehicle position and heading direction to function properly. In this paper an implementation of Extended Kalman Filter for estimation of vehicle position and heading direction in an intersection active safety application is presented. The algorithm was tested on a complex urban trajectory of 2 km long and showed very encouraging results

Comparison of attitudes towards prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy for haemophilia in Iran and Italy

Prenatal diagnosis (PND) is an important issue in the comprehensive care of haemophiliacs. As a consequence of technological progress made in the field of PND, the early detection of an affected fetus provides the expectant couple with a chance to terminate pregnancy. This study was undertaken to assess the attitudes of two different haemophilic populations in Iran and Italy towards PND and termination of pregnancy. This study series included 59 Iranians (38 haemophilia A patients and 21 mothers) and 50 Italians (27 haemophilia A patients, 16 mothers and seven fathers). All the 109 participants received a questionnaire including demographic characteristics and evaluating the psychological effects stemming from PND and termination of pregnancy. Approximately 84.7% of the Iranians and 35.4% of the Italians were not familiar with the possibilities afforded by PND for haemophilia (P < 0.001). Termination of pregnancy appeared to be accepted by 58.2% of the Iranian and 16.7% of the Italian participants (P < 0.001). The greater rate of acceptability of abortion in Iranians may be due to differences in the quality of patient care in the two countrie

Sensor Fusion for Vehicle Positioning in Intersection Active Safety Applications

Global Positioning System (GPS) is being increasingly used in active safety applications. One field of active safety in which navigation information can be used is Intersection Active Safety Applications (IASA) which requires a precise and continuous estimate of vehicle position and heading direction to function properly. In this paper an implementation of Extended Kalman Filter for estimation of vehicle position and heading direction in an intersection active safety application is presented. The algorithm was tested on a complex urban trajectory of 2 km long and showed very encouraging results

Blood glucose on admission and prognosis in nondiabetic acute coronary patients treated with percutaneous interventions

Background-glycemic control in cardiac patients is necessary to improve mortality and morbidity; however, the impact of admission glycemic control in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has not been extensively investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between the serum glucose level (BG) on admission and the rate of cumulative in-hospital and 6-month adverse events in non-diabetic ACS patients undergoing PCI. Methods-This case-series study analyzed 100 non-diabetic patients - with intermediate to high-risk unstable angina or non-ST elevation myocardial infarction - who were candidated for early PCI. BG was measured on admission and adverse events were recorded during the hospital course and up to six months. Results-The mean level of BG on admission was 147.70 ± 66.20 mg/dL (range = 72 to 382 mg/dL). Among the patients followed up, the rate of major adverse events (MACCE) was 6.0. The mean BG on admission in the group with MACCE was significantly higher than that among patients without MACCE (192.50 ± 77.34 mg/dL vs. 144.84 ± 64.85 mg/dL; p value = 0.010). According to the ROC curve analysis, BG on admission had an acceptable value for predicting MACCE (c = 0.723, 95 CI: 0.601 - 0.844). The best cut-off point of BG for discriminating MACCE from non-MACCE status was 140 mg/dL with a sensitivity of 67.0 and a specificity of 73.0. Considering this cut off value, 66.7 of the patients with MACCE and only 31.9 of the non-MACCE patients had glucose levels > 140 mg/dL (relative risk = 4.267, 95 CI: 1.236 - 14.726). Conclusion-Measuring BG on admission can predict untoward events in patients with ACS treated with elective PCI

The first discrete choice experiment on usage of bypassing agents in hemophilic patients in Iran

Background: Bleeding events in hemophilic patients with inhibitors are managed by bypassing agents. Currently available agents in Iran are recombinant activated factor VII (rfVIIa; Aryogen, Aryoseven) and Feiba (factor eight inhibitor bypassing agent). No standardized and accurate assay is currently available for monitoring the effectiveness of bypassing agents. We suggested that history of the patients� response and also their preference could be a reliable method for assessing the efficacy of bypassing agents; therefore, we designed a multi-centric discrete choice experiment study to assess the factors that affect the efficacy of bypassing agents. Methods: Hemophilic patients older than 2 years with inhibitors who required bypassing agents for the treatment of bleeding episodes were eligible to participate in the study. Patients� preference toward treatment with either Feiba or Aryoseven was measured with a DCE (discrete choice experiment) design on a phone interview. Results: 80 patients were enrolled from 5 centers in Iran. At enrollment, the mean age was18.6 years (range, 2-50 years). 47 patients (58) preferred to receive FEIBA, 21 patients (21.2) favored Aryoseven and 12 (14.8) patients claimed no difference between the two products. Conclusion: Our results indicated that according to the DCE method, patients preferred Feiba to Aryoseven while the main reason was their higher efficacy. In addition, adverse reactions in both groups were almost equal. As a result, it seems that presence of both products in the market for hemophilic patients with inhibitors is absolutely essential. © 2016 Iranian Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Society. All rights reserved

The first discrete choice experiment on usage of bypassing agents in hemophilic patients in Iran

Background: Bleeding events in hemophilic patients with inhibitors are managed by bypassing agents. Currently available agents in Iran are recombinant activated factor VII (rfVIIa; Aryogen, Aryoseven) and Feiba (factor eight inhibitor bypassing agent). No standardized and accurate assay is currently available for monitoring the effectiveness of bypassing agents. We suggested that history of the patients� response and also their preference could be a reliable method for assessing the efficacy of bypassing agents; therefore, we designed a multi-centric discrete choice experiment study to assess the factors that affect the efficacy of bypassing agents. Methods: Hemophilic patients older than 2 years with inhibitors who required bypassing agents for the treatment of bleeding episodes were eligible to participate in the study. Patients� preference toward treatment with either Feiba or Aryoseven was measured with a DCE (discrete choice experiment) design on a phone interview. Results: 80 patients were enrolled from 5 centers in Iran. At enrollment, the mean age was18.6 years (range, 2-50 years). 47 patients (58) preferred to receive FEIBA, 21 patients (21.2) favored Aryoseven and 12 (14.8) patients claimed no difference between the two products. Conclusion: Our results indicated that according to the DCE method, patients preferred Feiba to Aryoseven while the main reason was their higher efficacy. In addition, adverse reactions in both groups were almost equal. As a result, it seems that presence of both products in the market for hemophilic patients with inhibitors is absolutely essential. © 2016 Iranian Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Society. All rights reserved

Factor XI deficiency in Southern Iran: identification of a novel missense mutation

Factor XI (FXI)-deficiency is a rare coagulation disorder inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, which is most common in Ashkenazi Jews, but also found in other groups like Moslems. We have reviewed for the first time cases of FXI deficiency in southern Iran in order to analyze their mutations related to factor XI, the main clinical and biological features, levels of circulating factor XI, and bleeding history. All 15 exons and exon-intron boundaries of F11 were polymerase chain reaction amplified using sets of primers designed on the basis of the known genomic sequence of the gene. Among bleeding disorder cases, five were FXI-deficient. FXI clotting activity ranged 0.39-16%. All were severely deficient. In all analyzed patients, functional level of FXI was markedly reduced, confirming the diagnosis of quantitative FXI deficiency. Sequencing of F11 identified three mutations: (1) a highly prevalent type II nonsense mutation (Glu117stop) in a homozygous patient, (2) a previously reported missense (Glu547Lys), and (3) novel missense (Gly372Ala) mutation. No causative mutation was found in the sequenced regions of other patients. One novel mutation and two previously described mutations were identified in patients living in southern Iran. No recurrent mutation was found, perhaps because there is a more intense population mixing in southern Iran. Screening a higher number of FXI-deficient patients will also be necessary to reveal the existence of a founder effect for these mutations in the Iranian population