428 research outputs found
Fusarium wilt of banana, a recurring threat to global banana production
TR4 first emerged in Southeast Asia (Ploetz, 1990) and its current rapid spread was analysed by Ordóñez et al. (2015). Subsequent studies showed that the TR4 strain is extremely virulent towards many banana cultivars, including Cavendish cultivars grown in large-scale monoculture plantations for export markets and many banana varieties important for food security and domestic consumption. There are no readily available solutions to manage this disease. Moreover, this global threat connects export trade, strongly dependent on the susceptible Cavendish cultivars, to local production systems wherein a range of banana varieties contributing to food security are also impacted.This research topic aims to provide a platform for information exchange and knowledge sharing. The contributions demonstrate an active research community in search of effective control of FWB. Taken together, the papers provide an overview of our current understanding of the biology and epidemiology of TR4, its management and how integrated and innovative solutions are required and need to be embraced by all stakeholders in an effort to build a sustainable banana industry for the future
Hospital healthcare utilizers with medical and psychiatric claims in the Netherlands:a nationwide study
BACKGROUND: Psychiatric and medical multimorbidity is associated with low quality of life, poor functioning and excess mortality. Differences in healthcare utilization between those receiving co-occurring medical and psychiatric healthcare (HUMPCs) and those only receiving medical (HUMCs) or only psychiatric healthcare (HUPCs) may indicate differences in care accessibility, help-seeking behavior and the risk patterns of medical illness. We aimed to assess the occurrence of psychiatric diagnostic groups in HUMPCs compared to HUPCs and to compare their medical and psychiatric claims expenditures. METHODS: Using Dutch claims data covering psychiatric and medical hospital care in 2010–2011, healthcare utilization differences between HUMPCs and HUPCs were expressed as differences and ratios, accounting for differences in age and sex between groups. Median claims expenditures were then compared between HUMPCs and HUPCs. RESULTS: HUMPCs had 40% higher median medical cost of claims compared to HUMCs and a 10% increased number of psychiatric claims compared to HUPCs. HUMPCs were more often diagnosed with: organic disorders; behavioral syndromes associated with physiological disturbances and physical factors; mood [affective] disorders; neurotic, stress related and somatoform disorders; and disorders of adult personality and behavior. By contrast, disorders of psychological development, schizophrenia, schizotypal and delusional disorders, behavioral and emotional disorders with usual onset occurring in childhood, and mental and behavioral disorders due to psychoactive substance abuse were less often diagnosed in this group. CONCLUSIONS: Both medical and psychiatric disease become more costly where both are present. For HUMPCs the costs of both medical and psychiatric claims for almost all diagnostic groups were higher than for HUPCs and HUMCs
In search of spring mires in Namibia:The Waterberg area revisited
The scarcity of peatlands and mires in Namibia is well known. Peatlands have been found in the north, which is the wettest part of the country. In the 1930s, spring mires were reported by German geologists in the Waterberg area, which also has relatively high annual precipitation. This short note reports some field observations and a literature search for old documents that mention the occurrence of springs and spring mires in the Waterberg region. The search was done by IMCG members who visited the Waterberg area in August 2014. We found springs, but no real mires. However, we found remnants of what might have been a large spring mire similar to that reported by the German geologist Paul Range, who found “local spring mires (Quellmoore) with a peat thickness of several metres in northern South-West Africa”. Whether or not our peat remnants were situated at the same site as the Range discovery could not be assessed. We compared the landscape position of the peat remnants and spring in the Waterberg area of Namibia with information from an ongoing ecohydrological study in the Waterberg area of Limpopo Province, South Africa
Envelope structure of deeply embedded young stellar objects in the Serpens Molecular Cloud
Aperture synthesis and single-dish (sub) millimeter molecular lines and
continuum observations reveal in great detail the envelope structure of deeply
embedded young stellar objects (SMM1, SMM2, SMM3, SMM4) in the densely
star-forming Serpens Molecular Cloud. Resolved millimeter continuum emission
constrains the density structure to a radial power law with index -2.0 +/- 0.5,
and envelope masses of 8.7, 3.0, and 5.3 M_sol for SMM1, SMM3, and SMM4. The
core SMM2 does not seem to have a central condensation and may not have formed
a star yet. The molecular line observations can be described by the same
envelope model, if an additional, small amount of warm (100 K) material is
included. This probably corresponds to the inner few hundred AU of the envelope
were the temperature is high. In the interferometer beam, the molecular lines
reveal the inner regions of the envelopes, as well as interaction of the
outflow with the surrounding envelope. Bright HCO+ and HCN emission outlines
the cavities, while SiO and SO trace the direct impact of the outflow on
ambient gas. Taken together, these observations provide a first comprehensive
view of the physical and chemical structure of the envelopes of deeply embedded
young stellar objects in a clustered environment on scales between 1000 and
10,000 AU.Comment: 46 pages, incl. 12 postscript figures, uses ApJ latex and psfig
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Motivated by future and challenges: A cross-cultural study on adolescents' investment in learning and career planning
Radiotherapy in breast cancer: current standards of treatment, prediction of local recurrence and open questions
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