Evidence of variant intra- and interspecific scaling of tree crown structure and relevance for allometric theory

General scaling rules or constants for metabolic and structural plant allometry as assumed by the theory of Euclidian geometric scaling (2/3-scaling) or metabolic scaling (3/4-scaling) may meet human’s innate propensity for simplicity and generality of pattern and processes in nature. However, numerous empirical works show that variability of crown structure rather than constancy is essential for a tree’s success in coping with crowding. In order to link theory and empiricism, we analyzed the intra- and inter-specific scaling of crown structure for 52 tree species. The basis is data from 84 long-term plots of temperate monospecific forests under survey since 1870 and a set of 126 yield tables of angiosperm and gymnosperm forest tree species across the world. The study draws attention to (1) the intra-specific variation and correlation of the three scaling relationships: tree height versus trunk diameter, crown cross-sectional area versus trunk diameter, and tree volume versus trunk diameter, and their dependence on competition, (2) the inter-specific variation and correlation of the same scaling exponents (\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} {\upalpha}_{h,d}, {\upalpha}_{{\text{csa,}}d} \end{document} and \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document} {{\upalpha}}_{v,d} \end{document}) across 52 tree species, and (3) the relevance of the revealed variable scaling of crown structure for leaf organs and metabolic scaling. Our results arrive at suggesting a more extended metabolic theory of ecology which includes variability and covariation between allometric relationships as prerequisite for the individual plant’s competitiveness

A Case Study Assessing the Auditory and Speech Development of Four Children Implanted with Cochlear Implants by the Chronological Age of 12 Months

Children with severe hearing loss most likely receive the greatest benefit from a cochlear implant (CI) when implanted at less than 2 years of age. Children with a hearing loss may also benefit greater from binaural sensory stimulation. Four children who received their first CI under 12 months of age were included in this study. Effects on auditory development were determined using the German LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire, closed- and open-set monosyllabic word tests, aided free-field, the Mainzer and Göttinger speech discrimination tests, Monosyllabic-Trochee-Polysyllabic (MTP), and Listening Progress Profile (LiP). Speech production and grammar development were evaluated using a German language speech development test (SETK), reception of grammar test (TROG-D) and active vocabulary test (AWST-R). The data showed that children implanted under 12 months of age reached open-set monosyllabic word discrimination at an age of 24 months. LiP results improved over time, and children recognized 100% of words in the MTP test after 12 months. All children performed as well as or better than their hearing peers in speech production and grammar development. SETK showed that the speech development of these children was in general age appropriate. The data suggests that early hearing loss intervention benefits speech and language development and supports the trend towards early cochlear implantation. Furthermore, the data emphasizes the potential benefits associated with bilateral implantation

Essays on Asset Trade

The overreaching methodology of my Ph.D. thesis is to substitute noise traders with rational traders. I do so by considering liquidity asymmetry between informed trader and uninformed traders. Liquidity asymmetry creates a motive for trade. Under this new setup, I study the impact of asset trade on the real economy, represented by a firm with an investment opportunity, in chapter 1 ("Efficient Asset Trade - A Model with Asymmetric Information and Asymmetric Liquidity Needs"). I find conditions for which asset trade leads to inefficient investment. Chapter 2 ("(In)Efficient Asset Trade and a Rationale for a Tobin Tax") characterizes a tax which can restore efficient investment. In chapter 3, I show that finitely repeated trade, as in Kyle (1985) and Ostrovsky (2012), does not necessarily lead to information revelation if traders are fully rational

Factores determinantes en el tiempo de duración de la formulación de los estudios de pre-inversión de los proyectos de establecimientos penitenciarios 2003-2019

El objetivo de la investigación ha sido identificar los factores determinantes en el tiempo de duración de la formulación de los estudios de preinversión de los proyectos de EP 2003-2019. Con ese propósito, reuní datos sobre 19 proyectos que se elaboraron durante el periodo 2003-2019 en el Instituto Nacional Penitenciario del Perú. Una vez recopilados los datos elaboré una base de datos que me permitió la redacción de la estadística descriptiva e inferencial. De acuerdo con los resultados de la investigación, los determinantes del tiempo de formulación de estudio de preinversión de establecimientos penitenciarios durante el periodo 2003-2019 fueron: la baja capacitación en el sistema de inversión pública, el temor a las responsabilidades por los funcionarios que toman decisiones y la ausencia de profesionales expertos en formulación de estudios de preinversión

Prognostische Wertigkeit der CK 20-Detektion mittels RT-PCR als Nachweismethode für disseminierte Tumorzellen im Blut und Knochenmark beim Pankreaskarzinom:eine prospektive Studie

Durch frühzeitige Metastasierung und eine hohe Rezidivrate ist die Sterblichkeit am Pankreaskarzinom unverändert hoch. In der vorliegenden Arbeit sollte gezeigt werden, dass der Nachweis von CK 20-haltigen Zellen im Blut oder Knochenmark mit einem höheren Tumorstadium korreliert und einen Indikator für eine schlechtere Prognose darstellt. Bei 33 Pankreaskarzinompatienten wurde prä-operativ Knochenmark und Blut entnommen und unter standardisierten Bedingungen mittels RT-nested PCR auf CK 20 untersucht. Die Patienten wurden über 36 Monate beobachtet. Der Nachweis disseminierter Tumorzellen korrelierte weder im Knochenmark noch im Blut signifikant mit dem Tumorstadium. In der vorliegenden Studie ist der Nachweis von CK 20-expremierenden Zellen kein Indikator für eine schlechtere Prognose. Die klinische Etablierung dieser Methode als unabhängiger Prognosefaktor kann daher zurzeit nicht empfohlen werden und bedarf weiterer Untersuchungen

Factores determinantes en el tiempo de duración de la formulación de los estudios de pre-inversión de los proyectos de establecimientos penitenciarios 2003-2019

El objetivo de la investigación ha sido identificar los factores determinantes en el tiempo de duración de la formulación de los estudios de preinversión de los proyectos de EP 2003-2019. Con ese propósito, reuní datos sobre 19 proyectos que se elaboraron durante el periodo 2003-2019 en el Instituto Nacional Penitenciario del Perú. Una vez recopilados los datos elaboré una base de datos que me permitió la redacción de la estadística descriptiva e inferencial. De acuerdo con los resultados de la investigación, los determinantes del tiempo de formulación de estudio de preinversión de establecimientos penitenciarios durante el periodo 2003-2019 fueron: la baja capacitación en el sistema de inversión pública, el temor a las responsabilidades por los funcionarios que toman decisiones y la ausencia de profesionales expertos en formulación de estudios de preinversión

A Case Study Assessing the Auditory and Speech Development of Four Children Implanted with Cochlear Implants by the Chronological Age of 12 Months

Children with severe hearing loss most likely receive the greatest benefit from a cochlear implant (CI) when implanted at less than 2 years of age. Children with a hearing loss may also benefit greater from binaural sensory stimulation. Four children who received their first CI under 12 months of age were included in this study. Effects on auditory development were determined using the German LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire, closed- and open-set monosyllabic word tests, aided free-field, the Mainzer and Göttinger speech discrimination tests, Monosyllabic-Trochee-Polysyllabic (MTP), and Listening Progress Profile (LiP). Speech production and grammar development were evaluated using a German language speech development test (SETK), reception of grammar test (TROG-D) and active vocabulary test (AWST-R). The data showed that children implanted under 12 months of age reached open-set monosyllabic word discrimination at an age of 24 months. LiP results improved over time, and children recognized 100% of words in the MTP test after 12 months. All children performed as well as or better than their hearing peers in speech production and grammar development. SETK showed that the speech development of these children was in general age appropriate. The data suggests that early hearing loss intervention benefits speech and language development and supports the trend towards early cochlear implantation. Furthermore, the data emphasizes the potential benefits associated with bilateral implantation

Can intermittent theta burst stimulation as add-on to psychotherapy improve nicotine abstinence? Results from a pilot study

Smoking is among the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Discontinuing smoking can increase life expectancy to the presmoking level. Unaided attempts are often ineffective, strengthening the necessity of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), nicotine replacement or pharmacotherapy. Still, relapse rates are high. Recently, a modulation of nicotine craving, which predicts relapse, through transcranial magnetic stimulation to the prefrontal cortex was shown. In a pilot study, we investigated whether 4 sessions of intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) as add-on treatment to CBT reduces nicotine craving and improves long-term abstinence (at 3, 6 and 12 months). Smokers were randomly assigned to a treatment (n = 38) or a sham group (n = 36). Although we did not find reduced craving, we could show higher abstinence rates in the treatment group at 3 months. At 6 and 12 months abstinence rates did not differ significantly. Results at 12 months, however, have to be interpreted cautiously due to significant differences in the dropout rates between the two groups at this time point. We provide first evidence for a beneficial effect of additional iTBS on intermediate nicotine abstinence; however, the low number of iTBS sessions might have prevented longer effects. More lasting effects might be achieved by iTBS maintenance sessions in analogy to the treatment of depression

A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Investigation of Speech Production During Reading

This study was designed to test the extent to which speaking processes related to articulation and voicing influence Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) measures of cortical hemodynamics and functional connectivity. Participants read passages in three conditions (oral reading, silent mouthing, and silent reading) while undergoing fNIRS imaging. Area under the curve (AUC) analyses of the oxygenated and deoxygenated hemodynamic response function concentration values were compared for each task across five regions of interest. There were significant region main effects for both oxy and deoxy AUC analyses, and a significant region x task interaction for deoxy AUC favoring the oral reading condition over the silent reading condition for two non-motor regions. Assessment of functional connectivity using Granger Causality revealed stronger networks between motor areas during oral reading and stronger networks between language areas during silent reading. There was no evidence that the hemodynamic flow from motor areas during oral reading compromised measures of language-related neural activity in non-motor areas. However, speech movements had small, but measurable effects on fNIRS measures of neural connections between motor and non-motor brain areas across the perisylvian region, even after wavelet filtering. Therefore, researchers studying speech processes with fNIRS should use wavelet filtering during preprocessing to reduce speech motion artifacts, incorporate a nonspeech communication or language control task into the research design, and conduct a connectivity analysis to adequately assess the impact of functional speech on the hemodynamic response across the perisylvian region

Testing the relative sensitivity of 102 ecological variables as indicators of woodland condition in the New Forest, UK.

Forests globally are facing an increasing number of threats from modified disturbance regimes, novel stressors and changing environmental conditions. This has ultimately resulted in declines in the ecological condition of many forest and woodland ecosystems, leading to widespread tree mortality and stand dieback. Effective indicators of overall woodland ecological condition are therefore needed for environmental monitoring and to support management responses. To test the effectiveness of different variables that could potentially be used as indicators of woodland condition, 102 variables that describe woodland structure, composition, functioning, edaphic conditions and disturbance regimes were assessed along 12 replicate gradients of beech stand dieback. Results indicated that 35 variables differed significantly between at least two stages of the dieback gradient, indicating their sensitivity to stand dieback. Seven of these indicators related to woodland species composition, two to functional processes, 20 to structural features, four to edaphic conditions, and two to disturbance regimes. These results demonstrate that effective indicators can potentially be identified for each of the ecological categories. Effective composition indicators included species richness of ectomycorrhizal fungi, ground flora and epiphytic lichens; functional indicators were soil respiration rate and net nitrification rate; edaphic conditions included soil Na:Ca ratio, exchangeable sodium, total carbon, Ca:Al ratio; structural indicators included canopy openness, litter cover, sward height, and volume of deadwood, and for disturbance the indicator was Equus dung density. Other measures, such as shrub cover and species richness of carabid beetles and spiders, were not found to vary significantly along the dieback gradients, and were therefore not identified as effective indicators. These results demonstrate the value of gradient analysis for evaluating indicators of woodland condition, but also highlight the need for multi-site studies to identify indicators with widescale applicability