Differences in branch characteristics of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) genetic entries grown at different spacing

• We studied the differences in branch characteristics along the stems of six different genetic entries of 20 year old Scots pines (Pinus sylvestris L.) grown at different spacing (current stand density range 2000–4000 trees ha−1) in central Finland. Furthermore, we studied the phenotypic correlations between yield, wood density traits and branch characteristics. All the genetic entries had Kanerva pine (plus tree S1101) as a father tree, whereas the mother tree represented Finnish plus trees from southern, central and northern Finland. • Spacing affected all yield traits, wood density and living branch characteristics such as relative average branch diameter and relative cumulative branch area (p < 0.05). As a comparison, genetic entry affected height, while origin group (southern, central and northern ones) affected most of the studied traits. Regardless of spacing, the northern origin had, on average, the largest stem diameter and highest wood density, while the central one was the tallest one. Furthermore, average branch diameter along the stem was affected by branch age, origin group and spacing, while average branch angle was affected by branch age and genetic entry (p < 0.05). • In general the average branch size could be decreased especially in lower tree canopy by denser spacing during the early phase of the rotation, but only at the expense of tree growth. Correspondingly differences between origins are mainly related to their differences in stem growth

DDFT calibration and investigation of an anisotropic phase-field crystal model

The anisotropic phase-field crystal model recently proposed and used by Prieler et al. [J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 21, 464110 (2009)] is derived from microscopic density functional theory for anisotropic particles with fixed orientation. Further its morphology diagram is explored. In particular we investigated the influence of anisotropy and undercooling on the process of nucleation and microstructure formation from atomic to the microscale. To that end numerical simulations were performed varying those dimensionless parameters which represent anisotropy and undercooling in our anisotropic phase-field crystal (APFC) model. The results from these numerical simulations are summarized in terms of a morphology diagram of the stable state phase. These stable phases are also investigated with respect to their kinetics and characteristic morphological features.Comment: It contain 13 pages and total of 7 figure

Combining diagnostic memory clinic with rehabilitation follow-up after hip fracture

Purpose: Cognitive impairment and dementia are common in older hip fracture patients. We describe new diagnoses of cognitive disorders (NDCDs) and associated factors in a two-year post-hip fracture follow-up including the use of the diagnostic facilities of a memory clinic.Methods: Data were collected on admission and at outpatient assessment 4–6 months post-hip fracture. Diagnoses of cognitive disorders followed the evidence-based Finnish national care guideline including internationally accepted criteria. NDCDs up to 2 years post-hip fracture were extracted manually from the patient files. Logistic regression models were computed to examine the associations between the pre-fracture factors and the domains of the outpatient geriatric assessment and NDCDs.Results: Of the 1165 hip fracture patients aged ≥ 65 years, 831 had no previous diagnosis of cognitive disorder. Of these, NDCD was documented in 23.3%. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) with or without vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) was the most common diagnosis. Cognitive disorder was usually at a moderate stage. Age, higher ASA score and poor nutritional status on admission were associated with new cognitive disorders. At the outpatient follow-up, poorer activities of daily living and mobility disability were associated with NDCD. Patients with a NDCD were more likely to suffer greater mobility impairment, poorer nutritional status and to have more supported living arrangements at follow-up than in the pre-fracture situation.Conclusion: NDCDs are common after hip fracture and associated with impaired rehabilitation outcomes and poor nutritional status. A post-hip fracture assessment co-organized in the form of a memory clinic seems to be feasible to detect previously undiagnosed cognitive disorders. Earlier diagnosis of cognitive disorders is warranted.</p

Ammonium nitrate evaporation and nitric acid condensation in DMT CCN counters

The effect of inorganic semivolatile aerosol compounds on the cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) activity of aerosol particles was studied by using a computational model for a DMT-CCN counter, a cloud parcel model for condensation kinetics and experiments to quantify the modelled results. Concentrations of water vapour and semivolatiles as well as aerosol trajectories in the CCN column were calculated by a computational fluid dynamics model. These trajectories and vapour concentrations were then used as an input for the cloud parcel model to simulate mass transfer kinetics of water and semivolatiles between aerosol particles and the gas phase. Two different questions were studied: (1) how big a fraction of semivolatiles is evaporated from particles after entering but before particle activation in the DMT-CCN counter? (2) How much can the CCN activity be increased due to condensation of semivolatiles prior to the maximum water supersaturation in the case of high semivolatile concentration in the gas phase? Both experimental and modelling results show that the evaporation of ammonia and nitric acid from ammonium nitrate particles causes a 10 to 15 nm decrease to the critical particle size in supersaturations between 0.1% and 0.7%. On the other hand, the modelling results also show that condensation of nitric acid or similar vapour can increase the CCN activity of nonvolatile aerosol particles, but a very high gas phase concentration (as compared to typical ambient conditions) would be needed. Overall, it is more likely that the CCN activity of semivolatile aerosol is underestimated than overestimated in the measurements conducted in ambient conditions

Changes in the production rate of secondary aerosol particles in Central Europe in view of decreasing SO2 emissions between 1996 and 2006

In anthropogenically influenced atmospheres, sulphur dioxide (SO2) is the main precursor of gaseous sulphuric acid (H2SO4), which in turn is a main precursor for atmospheric particle nucleation. As a result of socio-economic changes, East Germany has seen a dramatic decrease in anthropogenic SO2 emissions between 1989 and present, as documented by routine air quality measurements in many locations. We have attempted to evaluate the influence of changing SO2 concentrations on the frequency and intensity of new particle formation (NPF) using two different data sets (1996–1997; 2003–2006) of experimental particle number size distributions (diameter range 3–750 nm) from the atmospheric research station Melpitz near Leipzig, Germany. Between the two periods SO2 concentrations decreased by 65% on average, while the frequency of NPF events dropped by 45%. Meanwhile, the average formation rate of 3 nm particles decreased by 68% on average. The trends were statistically significant and therefore suggest a connection between the availability of anthropogenic SO2 and freshly formed new particles. In contrast to the decrease in new particle formation, we found an increase in the mean growth rate of freshly nucleated particles (+22%), suggesting that particle nucleation and subsequent growth into larger sizes are delineated with respect to their precursor species. Using three basic parameters, the condensation sink for H2SO4, the SO2 concentration, and the global radiation intensity, we were able to define the characteristic range of atmospheric conditions under which particle formation events take place at the Melpitz site. While the decrease in the concentrations and formation rates of the new particles was rather evident, no similar decrease was found with respect to the generation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN; particle diameter >100 nm) as a result of atmospheric nucleation events. On the contrary, the production of CCN following nucleation events appears to have increased by tens of percents. Our aerosol dynamics model simulations suggest that such an increase can be caused by the increased particle growth rate

Factors associated with and 1-year outcomes of fear of falling in a geriatric post-hip fracture assessment

Background: Hip fracture causes not only physical injury but also psychological trauma. Fear of falling (FoF) is related to poor recovery, loss of mobility and mortality. There is limited data on the clinical factors affecting post-hip fracture FoF and its consequences. Objective: To investigate the factors associated with and 1-year outcomes of post-hip fracture FoF. Methods: An observational prospective cohort study. Data were collected on hospital admission, at a geriatric outpatient assessment 4–6 months post-hip fracture and by telephone interviews 1 year after the index fracture. FoF was assessed with a dichotomous single-item question. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the age, gender and multivariable-adjusted association between baseline and the geriatric assessment domains with FoF. Follow-up outcomes included changes in mobility, living arrangements and mortality. Results: Of the 916 patients included, 425 (49%) had FoF at the time of their geriatric assessment. These patients were predominantly female and were living alone in their own homes with supportive home care. They scored lower on tests of physical performance. Less FoF was documented in patients with diagnosed cognitive disorders before the index fracture and in those with Clinical Dementia Rating ≥ 1. After adjusting for age and gender, no association was observed between FoF and any of the 1-year follow-up outcomes. Conclusion: Post-hip fracture FoF is common and associated with female gender, polypharmacy, poor daily functioning, poor physical performance and depressive mood. Patients with cognitive disorders have less FoF than those without. FoF appears to have no impact on the follow-up outcomes.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Factors associated with and 1-year outcomes of fear of falling in a geriatric post-hip fracture assessment

Background Hip fracture causes not only physical injury but also psychological trauma. Fear of falling (FoF) is related to poor recovery, loss of mobility and mortality. There is limited data on the clinical factors affecting post-hip fracture FoF and its consequences. Objective To investigate the factors associated with and 1-year outcomes of post-hip fracture FoF. Methods An observational prospective cohort study. Data were collected on hospital admission, at a geriatric outpatient assessment 4-6 months post-hip fracture and by telephone interviews 1 year after the index fracture. FoF was assessed with a dichotomous single-item question. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the age, gender and multivariable-adjusted association between baseline and the geriatric assessment domains with FoF. Follow-up outcomes included changes in mobility, living arrangements and mortality. Results Of the 916 patients included, 425 (49%) had FoF at the time of their geriatric assessment. These patients were predominantly female and were living alone in their own homes with supportive home care. They scored lower on tests of physical performance. Less FoF was documented in patients with diagnosed cognitive disorders before the index fracture and in those with Clinical Dementia Rating >= 1. After adjusting for age and gender, no association was observed between FoF and any of the 1-year follow-up outcomes. Conclusion Post-hip fracture FoF is common and associated with female gender, polypharmacy, poor daily functioning, poor physical performance and depressive mood. Patients with cognitive disorders have less FoF than those without. FoF appears to have no impact on the follow-up outcomes.</p

Prevalence and prognostic significance of depressive symptoms in a geriatric post-hip fracture assessment

Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and prognostic significance of post-hip fracture depressive symptoms.Methods: A naturalistic clinical cohort study. Data were collected on admission to hospital, geriatric assessment 4-6 months post-fracture and by telephone interview one-year post fracture. Depressive symptoms were assessed at the geriatric assessment using the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). Logistic regression analyses with multivariable models were conducted to examine the association of depressive symptoms with changes in mobility and living arrangements and Cox proportional hazards models for mortality between the geriatric assessment and one-year follow-up.Results: Of the 1070 patients, 22% (n = 238) had mild and 6% (n = 67) moderate to severe depressive symptoms. Patients with depressive symptoms had poorer nutritional status at baseline, lower scores on the cognitive and physical performance tests and poorer functional abilities in the geriatric assessment than those without. No association was observed between depressive symptoms and any of the outcomes at one-year follow-up. Poor nutritional status and physical functioning remained significant prognostic indicators.Conclusion: Post-hip fracture depressive symptoms are common and deserve attention during post-hip fracture recovery and rehabilitation. Nonetheless, depressive symptoms have no impact on the change in mobility or living arrangements or mortality. These latter outcomes are mainly explained by poor nutritional status and functioning.</p

Soil methane sink capacity response to a long-term wildfire chronosequence in Northern Sweden

Boreal forests occupy nearly one fifth of the terrestrial land surface and are recognised as globally important regulators of carbon (C) cycling and greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon sequestration processes in these forests include assimilation of CO2 into biomass and subsequently into soil organic matter, and soil microbial oxidation of methane (CH4). In this study we explored how ecosystem retrogression, which drives vegetation change, regulates the important process of soil CH4 oxidation in boreal forests. We measured soil CH4 oxidation processes on a group of 30 forested islands in northern Sweden differing greatly in fire history, and collectively representing a retrogressive chronosequence, spanning 5000 years. Across these islands the build-up of soil organic matter was observed to increase with time since fire disturbance, with a significant correlation between greater humus depth and increased net soil CH4 oxidation rates. We suggest that this increase in net CH4 oxidation rates, in the absence of disturbance, results as deeper humus stores accumulate and provide niches for methanotrophs to thrive. By using this gradient we have discovered important regulatory controls on the stability of soil CH4 oxidation processes that could not have not been explored through shorter-term experiments. Our findings indicate that in the absence of human interventions such as fire suppression, and with increased wildfire frequency, the globally important boreal CH4 sink could be diminished

Alcohol-related cerebellar degeneration: not all down to toxicity?

Background: Alcohol-related cerebellar degeneration is one of the commonest acquired forms of cerebellar ataxia. The exact pathogenic mechanisms by which alcohol leads to cerebellar damage remain unknown. Possible autoreactive immune mediated mechanisms have not been explored previously. In this study, we aim to investigate the potential role of alcohol-induced immune mediated cerebellar degeneration. Methods: Patients with ataxia and a history of alcohol misuse were recruited from the Ataxia and Hepatology tertiary clinics at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. We determined the pattern of cerebellar involvement both on clinical (SARA score) and imaging (MRI volumetry and MR spectroscopy) parameters. In addition, HLA genotyping, serological markers for gluten-related disorders and serological reactivity on rat cerebellar tissue using indirect immunohistochemistry were assessed. Results: Thirty-eight patients were included in the study all of whom had ataxia. The gait (97 %), stance (89 %) and heel-shin slide (89 %) were the predominant SARA elements affected. MRI volumetric and spectroscopy techniques demonstrated significant structural, volumetric and functional deficits of the cerebellum with particular involvement of the cerebellar vermis. Circulating anti-gliadin antibodies were detected in 34 % patients vs. 12 % in healthy controls. Antibodies to transglutaminase 6 (TG6) were detected in 39 % of patients and 4 % of healthy control subjects. Using immunohistochemistry, Purkinje cell and/or granular layer reactivity was demonstrated in 71 % of patient sera. Conclusions: Alcohol induced tissue injury to the CNS leading to cerebellar degeneration may also involve immune mediated mechanisms, including sensitisation to gluten