The Prepared Environment. A suitable environment design: The Flowerssori case

The Flowerssori project is the outcome of the long intellectual search of two architects who have decided to make a fresh start involving the ethics of the “real”, and to place their bets on the future, that is on children. The feel for nature and the fascination exerted by the world of Maria Montessori were both consequential of and synergetic with the determination to develop a new type of environment

Comparison between transperineal ultrasound and digital dectection of levator ani trauma : can we improve the odds?

Aims To investigate the predictive ability of four digital assessment parameters to detect levator ani (LA) muscle defects (avulsion injury) and compare these to transperineal tomographic ultrasound images. Methods This was an observational study imbedded in a larger quasi-experimental cohort study for women with urinary incontinence. Seventy-two women, ≥60 years who had attended or were going to attend physiotherapy for treatment of urinary incontinence, were included in the study. Inclusion criteria from the parent study were symptoms of stress, urge or both types of urinary incontinence. The predictive ability of the following digital parameters: direct palpation of a discontinuity of the LA muscle from insertion on the pubic ramus; palpation of the distance between the muscle insertion sites; palpation of LA strength; palpation of LA tone, were analyzed against findings from tomographic transperineal ultrasound images. Correlation between methods was measured using Cohen's kappa for each of the individual parameters. Results Seventeen women (24%) presented with a complete or partial avulsion of the puborectalis muscle as diagnosed with tomographic ultrasound imaging. Nine women (13%) had complete avulsions, one of which was bilateral. The predictive ability of the digital assessment parameters varied from poor (k = 0.187, 95% CI [0.02–0.36]) to moderate (k = 0.569, 95% CI [0.31–0.83]). The new parameter of ‘width between insertion sites’ performed best. Conclusions Adding the parameter of “width between insertion sites” appears to enhance our ability to detect avulsion of the levator ani (LA) muscle by digital examination however it does not distinguish between unilateral or bilateral avulsion

Scientific contributions in the field of transport and supply chain management

The Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management at the University of Johannesburg proudly presents to you volume 8, 2014, of the Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management (JTSCM), an accredited publication which is unique to South Africa

The rise and fall of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity during ecosystem retrogression

(P) limitation of primary productivity. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) enhance P acquisition for most terrestrial plants, but it has been suggested that this strategy becomes less effective in strongly weathered soils with extremely low P availability. Using next generation sequencing of the large subunit ribosomal RNA gene in roots and soil, we compared the composition and diversity of AMF communities in three contrasting stages of a retrogressive >2-million-year dune chronosequence in a global biodiversity hotspot. This chronosequence shows a ~60-fold decline in total soil P concentration,with the oldest stage representing some of the most severely P-impoverishedsoils found in any terrestrial ecosystem. The richness of AMF operationaltaxonomic units was low on young (1000?s of years), moderately P-rich soils, greatest on relatively old (~120 000 years) low-P soils, and low again on the oldest (>2 000 000 years) soils that were lowest in P availability. A similar decline in AMF phylogenetic diversity on the oldest soils occurred, despite invariant host plant diversity and only small declines in host cover along the chronosequence. Differences in AMF community composition were greatest between the youngest and the two oldest soils, and this was best explained by differences in soil P concentrations. Our results point to a threshold in soil P availability during ecosystem regression below which AMF diversity declines, suggesting environmental filtering of AMF insufficiently adapted to extremely low P availability.Fil: Kruger, Manuela. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic; República ChecaFil: Teste, Francois. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico San Luis; Argentina. University of Western Australia; Australia. Universidad Nacional de San Luis; ArgentinaFil: Laliberté, Etienne. University of Western Australia; Australia. Universit e de Montr eal; CanadáFil: Lambers, Hans. University of Western Australia; AustraliaFil: Coghlan, Megan. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; PanamáFil: Zemunik, Graham. Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; PanamáFil: Bunce, Michael. Curtin University; Australi

Draft genome sequence of a “Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris”-related strain (aster yellows, subgroup 16SrI-B) from South Africa

Here, we report the draft genome sequence of a phytoplasma discovered in grapevine. The genome size is 600,116 nucleotides (nt), with 597 predicted open reading frames. It is most similar to a maize bushy stunt phytoplasma of group 16SrI-B (aster yellows). The possible presence of a 3,833-nt plasmid was also noted.University of Pretoria and European Union’s Horizon 2020 (EU H2020).https://mra.asm.orgpm2020BiochemistryGeneticsMicrobiology and Plant PathologyZoology and Entomolog