Diversity, temporal abundance, foraging behaviour of floral visitors and effect of different modes of pollination on coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.)

Studies on spatial distribution, foraging behaviour of pollinators and effect of different modesof pollination on yield of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) were undertaken at Karnal (Haryana).Coriander flowers were visited by 34 species of insects belonging to 18 families and 8 orders.Apoidea (35.9%), diptera (47.8%) and other hymenoptera (13.2%) were the three major groupscomprising 96.9% of the total visitors. Italian honey bee, Apis mellifera was the most prominentspecies (31.1%) followed by Episyrphus balteatus (19.2%) and unidentified Hymenoptera species(10.2%). Honey bees foraged both for nectar and pollen whereas, dipterans and other speciesfor nectar alone. A. mellifera started foraging early at 09.05 h, peaked from 11.00 to 16.00 hand declined drastically thereafter. A. dorsata peaked at 11.00 h and was not recorded after14.00 h.   A. cerana population peaked from 10.00 to 14.00 h and was not recorded after 15.00h. The syrphid and other dipteran flies were present throughout the day with two peaks,first from 07.00 to 11.00 h and another minor peak late in the afternoon from 15.00 to 18.00h. A. cerana had higher foraging rate (15.2 flower-1) than A. mellifera (13.1) and A. dorsata(10.6) and likewise visited more number of plants per minute (3.6, 2.7 and 2.1 min-1,respectively). A meagre yield of 6.3 g plant-1 was recorded in caged plots without honey bees(control). Yields in open and honey bee pollinated plots were 14.0 g each, with an increase of122.2% over without insect pollinated plots. Maximum yield was in plots treated with beeattractant Bee-Q (18.1 g plant-1) which was 187.3% higher over without insect pollinatedplots and 30.0% higher over open pollinated or bee pollinated plots. &nbsp

The Impact of Sarcopenia in the Long-Term Survival of Patients following Complex Endovascular Aortic Surgery for Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Objectives: Image-based sarcopenia has been the subject of recent studies, hypothesized as a prognostic factor for patients with thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms. Methods and Materials: We conducted a single-center retrospective analysis of patients who underwent complex endovascular repair for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms between 2008 and 2016. CT image assessment was performed and patients were classified as sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic using two stratification methods: skeletal mass index (SMI) and total psoas muscle index (TPMI). According to sex, each patient was defined as sarcopenic if their SMI or TPMI was in the lowest third of the study group. The primary endpoint was impact of sarcopenia on perioperative mortality and long-term survival. Secondary endpoints were perioperative complications. Results: From a total of 155 patients, 135 were eligible for study. Overall, in-hospital mortality was 5.9% (8/135). The 30-day, 1-year, 3-year and 5-year mortality was 10.4% (14/135), 20% (27/135), 28.1% (38/135) and 31.1% (42/135), respectively. There was no difference in the long-term mortality rates between sarcopenic and non-sarcopenic patients regardless of the stratification method used (p = 0.4 for SMI and p = 0.2 for TPMI). According to SMI, 30-day mortality of sarcopenic patients was significantly lower in comparison to non-sarcopenic patients (1/45, 2.2% vs. 13/90, 14.4%, p = 0.028). Based on the total psoas muscle index, sarcopenic patients were at higher risk for development of pulmonary complications in comparison to non-sarcopenic patients postoperatively (p = 0.03). Conclusion: Using SMI and TPMI, sarcopenia was not associated with reduced long-term survival in patients undergoing complex endovascular repair for thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms

Impact of opioid rescue medication for breakthrough pain on the efficacy and tolerability of long-acting opioids in patients with chronic non-malignant pain

There is little evidence that short-acting opioids as rescue medication for breakthrough pain is an optimal long-term treatment strategy in chronic non-malignant pain. We compared clinical studies of long-acting opioids that allowed short-acting opioid rescue medication with those that did not, to determine the impact of opioid rescue medication use on the analgesic efficacy and tolerability of chronic opioid therapy in patients with chronic non-malignant pain. We searched MEDLINE (1950 to July 2006) and EMBASE (1974 to July 2006) using terms for chronic non-malignant pain and long-acting opioids. Independent review of the search results identified 48 studies that met the study selection criteria. The effect of opioid rescue medication on analgesic efficacy and the incidence of common opioid-related side-effects were analysed using meta-regression. After adjusting for potentially confounding variables (study design and type of opioid), the difference in analgesic efficacy between the 'rescue' and the 'no rescue' studies was not significant, with regression coefficients close to 0 and 95% confidence intervals that excluded an effect of more than 18 points on a 0-100 scale in each case. There was also no significant difference between the 'rescue' and the 'no rescue' studies for the incidence of nausea, constipation, or somnolence in both the unadjusted and the adjusted analyses. We found no evidence that rescue medication with short-acting opioids for breakthrough pain affects analgesic efficacy of long-acting opioids or the incidence of common opioid-related side-effects among chronic non-malignant pain patients

Methodik

Die vegetationskundliche und strukturelle Zuordnung der Lebensraumtypen erfolgt nach der vorrangig von Braun-Blanquet entwickelten Vegetationsklassifizierung, einer hierarchischen Gliederung der Vegetationstypen (Syntaxonomie), die die Ebenen der Assoziation, des Verbandes, der Ordnung und der Klasse umfasst. Hierbei ist die Assoziation die grundlegende Einheit, in der die Pflanzengesellschaften zusammengefasst werden, die sich durch gleiche charakteristische Arten(gruppen)kombinationen auszeichnen. Der Verband vereinigt ähnliche Assoziationen. Das sind bereits umfassendere, jedoch standörtlich noch recht einheitliche Vegetationseinheiten. In Ordnungen werden ähnliche Verbände zusammengefasst. Die Klasse vereinigt ähnliche Ordnungen

‘There is a Time to be Born and a Time to Die’ (Ecclesiastes 3:2a): Jewish Perspectives on Euthanasia

Reviewing the publications of prominent American rabbis who have (extensively) published on Jewish biomedical ethics, this article highlights Orthodox, Conservative and Reform opinions on a most pressing contemporary bioethical issue: euthanasia. Reviewing their opinions against the background of the halachic character of Jewish (biomedical) ethics, this article shows how from one traditional Jewish textual source diverse, even contradictory, opinions emerge through different interpretations. In this way, in the Jewish debate on euthanasia the specific methodology of Jewish (bio)ethical reasoning comes forward as well as a diversity of opinion within Judaism and its branches

Study of charmonium and charmonium-like contributions in B+ → J/ψηK+ decays

A study of B+→ J/ψηK+ decays, followed by J/ψ → μ+μ− and η → γγ, is performed using a dataset collected with the LHCb detector in proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of 7, 8 and 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 fb−1. The J/ψη mass spectrum is investigated for contributions from charmonia and charmonium-like states. Evidence is found for the B+→ (ψ2(3823) → J/ψη)K+ and B+→ (ψ(4040) → J/ψη)K+ decays with significance of 3.4 and 4.7 standard deviations, respectively. This constitutes the first evidence for the ψ2(3823) → J/ψη decay

Observation of the doubly charmed baryon decay Ξcc++→Ξc′+π+

The Ξcc++→Ξc′+π+ decay is observed using proton-proton collisions collected by the LHCb experiment at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.4 fb−1. The Ξcc++→Ξc′+π+ decay is reconstructed partially, where the photon from the Ξc′+→Ξc+γ decay is not reconstructed and the pK−π+ final state of the Ξc+ baryon is employed. The Ξcc++→Ξc′+π+branching fraction relative to that of the Ξcc++→Ξc+π+ decay is measured to be 1.41 ± 0.17 ± 0.10, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Test of lepton universality in b→sℓ+ℓ−b \rightarrow s \ell^+ \ell^- decays

The first simultaneous test of muon-electron universality using $B^{+}\rightarrow K^{+}\ell^{+}\ell^{-}$ and $B^{0}\rightarrow K^{*0}\ell^{+}\ell^{-}$ decays is performed, in two ranges of the dilepton invariant-mass squared, $q^{2}$. The analysis uses beauty mesons produced in proton-proton collisions collected with the LHCb detector between 2011 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 9 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. Each of the four lepton universality measurements reported is either the first in the given $q^{2}$ interval or supersedes previous LHCb measurements. The results are compatible with the predictions of the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-046.html (LHCb public pages