Estimating retention benchmarks for salvage logging to protect biodiversity

S.T. was supported by the Humboldt-Foundation and by the MOST (Ministry of Science and Technology) Taiwan Research Fellowship to work with A.C. at National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan. S.T. received funds from the Gregor Louisoder Environmental Foundation. A.B.L. received funds from the Humboldt-Foundation.Forests are increasingly affected by natural disturbances. Subsequent salvage logging, a widespread management practice conducted predominantly to recover economic capital, produces further disturbance and impacts biodiversity worldwide. Hence, naturally disturbed forests are among the most threatened habitats in the world, with consequences for their associated biodiversity. However, there are no evidence-based benchmarks for the proportion of area of naturally disturbed forests to be excluded from salvage logging to conserve biodiversity. We apply a mixed rarefaction/extrapolation approach to a global multi-taxa dataset from disturbed forests, including birds, plants, insects and fungi, to close this gap. We find that 75 ± 7% (mean ± SD) of a naturally disturbed area of a forest needs to be left unlogged to maintain 90% richness of its unique species, whereas retaining 50% of a naturally disturbed forest unlogged maintains 73 ± 12% of its unique species richness. These values do not change with the time elapsed since disturbance but vary considerably among taxonomic groups.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEA

Treatment with levetiracetam after status epilepticus: effect on epileptogenesis, neuronal damage and behavioral alterations in rats

AIB1, a candidate oncogene in human breast cancer, is frequently amplified and overexpressed in several types of human cancers, but the status of AIB1 amplification and expression in urothelial carcinoma of the bladder (UC) and its clinical/prognostic significance is unclear. In our study, the methods of immunohistochemistry and fluorescence in situ hybridization were utilized to examine protein expression and amplification of AIB1 in 163 primary UCs and in 30 samples of normal bladder mucosa. Overexpression of AIB1 and amplification of AIB1 was found in 32.5 and 7.0% of UCs, respectively. In univariate survival analysis of the UC cohorts, a highly significant association of overexpression of AIB1 with shortened patient survival (mean: 45.6 months vs. 59.0 months, p < 0.001, log rank test) was demonstrated. In different subsets of UC patients, overexpression of AIB1 was also a prognostic indicator in grade 1 (p = 0.007), grade 2 (p = 0.010) and grade 3 (p = 0.015) tumor patients, and in pTa (p = 0.025), pT2-4 (p = 0.004), pN0 (p < 0.001) and pT2-4/pN0 (p = 0.040) tumor patients. Importantly, AIB1 expression (p < 0.001) together with pT and pN status (p < 0.05) provided significant independent prognostic parameters in multivariate analysis. In addition, a significant correlation (p < 0.05) of overexpression of AIB1 with an increased UC labeling index of Ki-67 (a cell proliferation marker) was observed in these UCs. Thus, these findings provide evidence that an overexpression of AIB1, as detected by immunohistochemistry, is an independent molecular marker for poor prognosis (shortened survival time) of patients with UC. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Do small protected habitat patches within boreal production forests provide value for biodiversity conservation? A systematic review protocol

Forest harvesting is the main driver of habitat degradation and biodiversity loss in forests of the boreal zone. To mitigate harmful effects, small-scale habitats with high biodiversity values have been protected within production forests. These include woodland key habitats, and other small-scale habitat patches protected by voluntary conservation action. This article describes a protocol for a systematic review to synthesize the value of small habitat patches left within production landscapes for biodiversity. The topic for this systematic review arose from a discussion with the Finnish forestry sector and was further defined in a stakeholder workshop. Research question: Do small protected habitat patches within production forests provide value for biodiversity conservation in boreal forests? Animal, plant and fungal diversities are addressed as well as the amount of deadwood within the habitat patches as proxy indicators for biodiversity.Peer reviewe

Development of methods for calculating adjustment of guide unit of billet continuous casting machines

Purpose of the work: experimental and theoretical study of factors limiting the durability of moulds, development and introduction of new design moulds possessing higher durability and requiring lesser material and labour consumption. The work develops a mathematical model of the thermal operation of the mould, estimates the cyclic durability of the sleeve and substatiates the hypothesis on thermal fatigue nature of its deterioration. New experimental data are obtained. The results of the investigation include the development of new designs of the moulds with thin-walled sleeves for horizontal-type steel continuous casting machines and production recommendations on steel casting on a single-sided machine. Square thin-walled sleeves with cylindrical locating holes for the metal feeder are designed. The moulds are put into operation at a metallurgical plant. Field of application: designing of new steel and alloy billet continuous casting machinesAvailable from VNTIC / VNTIC - Scientific & Technical Information Centre of RussiaSIGLERURussian Federatio