Forest stand structure influences biodiversity

Za zdravo delovanje gozda je potrebna biodiverziteta na zadovoljivo visoki ravni, zato mora biti njeno varovanje vključeno v gospodarjenje z gozdom. Ob naravni dinamiki gozda se vsaka združba na določeni lokaciji nenehno spreminja. Le z ustrezno strukturo lahko gozd nudi življenjski prostor različno občutljivim vrstam in tako zagotavlja diverziteto. Za odgovor na vprašanje, kakšna je ustrezna struktura, so nujne raziskave biodiverzitete v različno strukturiranih in različno starih sestojih. Pregledni članek povzema izsledke raziskav na različnih skupinah nevretenčarjev, ki so tako številčno kot funkcionalno zelo pomembni, zaradi svoje telesne zgradbe pa še posebej občutljivi na okoljske razmere. Združbe iz različnih razvojnih faz se večinomarazlikujejo med seboj, vrstna diverziteta pa je odvisna od strukture gozda. Med ekologi se je uveljavilo mnenje, da je ustrezna strategija za ohranjanje biodiverzitete zagotovitev heterogenosti okolja na različnih nivojih. Mozaik različnih razvojnih faz velikosti skupine ali gnezda v gozdni pokrajini zagotavlja ustrezne razmere za različno zahtevne vrste in njihove premike na ustrezno območje ob spremembah in motnjah v gozdu.Healthy functioning of a forest requires biodiversity on a sufficiently high level. Its conservation has to be incorporated into forest management. Along with natural forest development every community at a certain location experiences continual changeability. Only with appropriate structure a forest can offer living space for species of different sensitivity and in that way ensures diversity. In order for an appropriate structure to be defined, investigations of biodiversity in differently structured and differently aged stands are essential. The review paper summarizes results of investigations indifferent groups of invertebrates which are numerically as well as functionally very important, and owing to their body structure especially sensitive to environmental conditions. Communities mostly differ among phases,and species diversity depends on forest structure. A consensus has beenreached among ecologists that an appropriate strategy for preserving diversity is to secure the heterogeneity of an environment at different scalessimultaneously. A mosaic of different development phase patches in the size of a group or nest ensures in a forest landscape suitable conditions for differently demanding species and their migrations to a suitable environment when changes and disturbances occur

Alcuni aspetti di prassi e politiche linguistiche (implicite) nella comunità slovena in Italia

A community of speakers can develop different strategies in language planning. In the case of the Slovene community (or Slovene national minority) in Italy, we can generally detect two different attitudes toward language. On the one hand, a general defence attitude is widespread, and includes the protection of some language contact phenomena, of local dialects and specific varieties, also as terminological double standards in scientific and technical texts. On the other hand, a centralized attitude - with a highly codified in normalized language based on classical models and normative linguistics – is gaining value among the speakers. The paper is going to investigate both options emerging from the discourse analysis, and to show their relations with current language planning and policies

Mental Imagery Cracked: Direct Monitoring of the Continuous Movements of Covert Visuospatial Attention During Motion Imagery

We sought to provide direct evidence of the attention movements during dynamic mental imagery. Observers extrapolated in imagery the horizontal motion of a target with the gaze in central fixation. We recorded the steady-statevisual- evoked potentials (SSVEP) generated by flickering the left and right sides of the screen at two different frequencies. We found a consistent SSVEP modulation as a function of the imagined target position. Concurrent finger pointing, but not mental training, increased the SSVEP modulation. We conclude that the electrophysiological signature of covert visuospatial attention can be used to reveal non-invasively the continuous spatio-temporal dynamics of mental imagery

Delayed Perceptual Awareness in Rapid Perceptual Decisions

The flourishing of studies on the neural correlates of decision-making calls for an appraisal of the relation between perceptual decisions and conscious perception. By exploiting the long integration time of noisy motion stimuli, and by forcing human observers to make difficult speeded decisions – sometimes a blind guess – about stimulus direction, we traced the temporal buildup of motion discrimination capability and perceptual awareness, as assessed trial by trial through direct rating. We found that both increased gradually with motion coherence and viewing time, but discrimination was systematically leading awareness, reaching a plateau much earlier. Sensitivity and criterion changes contributed jointly to the slow buildup of perceptual awareness. It made no difference whether motion discrimination was accomplished by saccades or verbal responses. These findings suggest that perceptual awareness emerges on the top of a developing or even mature perceptual decision. We argue that the middle temporal (MT) cortical region does not confer us the full phenomenic depth of motion perception, although it may represent a precursor stage in building our subjective sense of visual motion

Recommendations for tick-borne encephalitis vaccination from the Central European Vaccination Awareness Group (CEVAG)

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a viral neurological zoonotic disease transmitted to humans by ticks or by consumption of unpasteurised dairy products from infected cows, goats, or sheep. TBE is highly endemic in areas of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia where it is a major public health concern. However, it is difficult to diagnose TBE as clinical manifestations tend to be relatively nonspecific and a standardised case definition does not exist across the region. TBE is becoming more important in Europe due to the appearance of new endemic areas. Few Central European Vaccination Awareness Group (CEVAG) member countries have implemented universal vaccination programmes against TBE and vaccination coverage is not considered sufficient to control the disease. When implemented, immunization strategies only apply to risk groups under certain conditions, with no harmonised recommendations available to date across the region. Effective vaccination programmes are essential in preventing the burden of TBE. This review examines the current situation of TBE in CEVAG countries and contains recommendations for the vaccination of children and high-risk groups. For countries at very high risk of TBE infections, CEVAG strongly recommends the introduction of universal TBE vaccination in children > 1 y of age onwards. For countries with a very low risk of TBE, recommendations should only apply to those traveling to endemic areas. Overall, it is generally accepted that each country should be free to make its own decision based on regional epidemiological data and the vaccination calendar, although recommendations should be made, especially for those living in endemic areas.publishersversionPeer reviewe