Rarity of monodominance in hyperdiverse Amazonian forests.

Tropical forests are known for their high diversity. Yet, forest patches do occur in the tropics where a single tree species is dominant. Such "monodominant" forests are known from all of the main tropical regions. For Amazonia, we sampled the occurrence of monodominance in a massive, basin-wide database of forest-inventory plots from the Amazon Tree Diversity Network (ATDN). Utilizing a simple defining metric of at least half of the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter belonging to one species, we found only a few occurrences of monodominance in Amazonia, and the phenomenon was not significantly linked to previously hypothesized life history traits such wood density, seed mass, ectomycorrhizal associations, or Rhizobium nodulation. In our analysis, coppicing (the formation of sprouts at the base of the tree or on roots) was the only trait significantly linked to monodominance. While at specific locales coppicing or ectomycorrhizal associations may confer a considerable advantage to a tree species and lead to its monodominance, very few species have these traits. Mining of the ATDN dataset suggests that monodominance is quite rare in Amazonia, and may be linked primarily to edaphic factors

Towards a More Resilient Euro Area. Ideas from the 'Future Europe' Forum. CEPS Paperback, 18 June 2018

Much progress has been made in improving resilience of the single currency since the beginning of the crisis. But many important issues remain to be tackled. The leaders of euro-area member states are expected to use the European Union Summit on 28-29 June 2018 to take preliminary decisions about which additional reforms to pursue. The run-up to this meeting saw a lively debate involving economists and policymakers, albeit against a backdrop of rising Euroscepticism among and waning trust between European partners. ESMT and the German Council of Economic Experts (GCEE) initiated the ‘Future Europe’ forum in the summer of 2017, aiming to bring together a high-level group of economists to discuss economically sensible, legally sound, and politically feasible concepts that deserved to be taken forward. By offering a forum for discussion, we hoped to foster constructive dialogue. They chose an innovative video-conference format to bring experts together face to face without them having to leave their desks (or living rooms). Some 30 economists took part in a dozen such virtual meetings, and their contributions culminated in a publication, brought out jointly by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), ESMT and the GCEE. The ebookTowards a More Resilient Euro Area: Ideas from the ‘Future Europe’ forum gathers summaries of these economists’ proposals and the discussions they sparked. The main aim was not to produce a variant of the jointly-authored academic paper, but to foster a lively debate between economists who – as one participant put it – “agree somewhat, but not too much”. The publication as a result combines essays outlining an individual author’s thoughts with summaries of the informed, impassioned, and always respectful discussions during each forum. While each contribution can only be attributed to the respective author, each idea and thought is a valuable input that deserves to be considered by European governments as they set about the next euro-area reforms

Hydrodynamic Drag during Gliding in Swimming

This study used a computational fluid dynamics methodology to analyze the effect of body position on the drag coefficient during submerged gliding in swimming. The k-epsilon turbulent model implemented in the commercial code Fluent and applied to the flow around a three-dimensional model of a male adult swimmer was used. Two common gliding positions were investigated: a ventral position with the arms extended at the front, and a ventral position with the arms placed along side the trunk. The simulations were applied to flow velocities of between 1.6 and 2.0 m x s(-1), which are typical of elite swimmers when gliding underwater at the start and in the turns. The gliding position with the arms extended at the front produced lower drag coefficients than with the arms placed along the trunk. We therefore recommend that swimmers adopt the arms in front position rather than the arms beside the trunk position during the underwater gliding.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Failure of fixation of trochanteric femur fractures: Clinical recommendations for avoiding Z-effect and reverse Z-effect type complications

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Z-effect and reverse Z-effect are complications that arise from the surgical treatment of pertrochanteric fractures of the femur with proximal femoral nails (PFN) comprising two interlocking head screws. Such complications are induced by the migration of screws in opposite directions, which may lead to failure of the osteosynthesis.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The paper describes three cases of pertrochanteric fractures that were treated with PFN with two interlocking screws that evolved to either Z-effect or reverse Z-effect. Literature-based explanations for this phenomenon are provided together with recommendations of how to avoid such complications.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Although intramedullary fixation is an established method of treatment of femoral intertrochanteric and subtrochanteric fractures, the evolution of the procedure may include complications associated with the migration of the interlocking head screws. The occurrence of Z-effect and reverse Z-effect has not been completely elucidated, but the main causes of such complications are probably fracture fixation in varus position, severe medial comminution, inappropriate entry point of the nail and poor bone quality.</p

Chemical components separation with the use of botulinum toxin A: a critical review for correction of ventral hernia

Background: Ventral hernias are prevalent results in abdominal surgeries and may represent a surgical challenge in complex&nbsp;cases, mainly due to tension in abdominal wall musculature. Failure of surgical correction may lead to a more morbid&nbsp;treatment, in addition to a considerable socioeconomic impact. In order to have a lower risk of complications, the use of&nbsp;botulinum toxin A (BTA), may be a preoperative alternative to reduce abdominal wall tension by causing sustained and&nbsp;reversible paralysis. This critical review of the literature proposes to evaluate the adjacent use of BTA in surgical ventral&nbsp;hernias corrections.Methods: Using the PubMed database, the keywords ‘ventral hernia’, and ‘botulinum toxin’ were searched using the&nbsp;Boolean operator AND. Articles were selected based on their relevance and updated information. The outcomes of interest&nbsp;included the change in ventral hernia defect width and in lateral abdominal wall muscle length, pain, hernia recurrence&nbsp;and complications.Results: A total of 20 articles from 2009 to 2018 were found. We excluded some articles due to irrelevant technique, use of&nbsp;animal models and lack of outcome data. Reduction of the abdominal wall thickness increasing its length, less perioperative&nbsp;pain, hernia reduction and the correction with less tension were observed after the use of BTA injection. No complications&nbsp;occurred during applications.Conclusion: The use of BTA seems to be a promising alternative in the management of ventral hernias due to its capacity&nbsp;of reducing tension in the abdominal wall. However, more studies are necessary to determine the efficacy of this method

TEP for incarcerated groin hernias: is it feasible for experienced surgeons?

Objective: To verify if endoscopic TEP surgery performed by an experienced surgeon is a feasible procedure to treat&nbsp;incarcerated groin hernia.Methods: This is a retrospective study in which we analyzed data from patients submitted to TEP endoscopic surgery for&nbsp;treatment of incarcerated and non-incarcerated groin hernias. The surgeries were all performed by a single surgeon. We&nbsp;obtained data on gender, age, ASA scores, BMI, hernia site and operating time. The two groups were descriptively analyzed&nbsp;and statistically compared in order to verify how similar the samples were. The operative times were also compared between&nbsp;the groups. The first 65 surgeries were excluded in order to evaluate the hability of an experienced surgeon.Results: 323 surgeries were performed. 32 (9.9%) were cases of incarcerated hernias. In 306 cases (96%), the surgical&nbsp;approach used was TEP, the other 13 cases (4%) were operated by TAPP. All incarcerated hernias were operated by the&nbsp;TEP method. No significant differences on gender, age, hernia site, BMI and ASA score were found between incarcerated&nbsp;and non-incarcerated hernia patients. The operative time was analyzed by site of hernias (left, right and bilateral) and no&nbsp;statistical differences were found between incarcerated and nonincarcerated hernias.Conclusions: 1) There was no significant differences on gender, age, ASA, BMI and site of hernias that could interfere in&nbsp;operative time in both groups. 2) The lack of significant statistical difference on operative time indicate that, for experienced&nbsp;surgeons, the technical difficulty is similar to operate incarcerated and non-incarcerated groin hernias by TEP.Keywords: Herniorraphy; Inguinal hernia; Endoscopy; Learning curve; Operative time

Protective effect of fungal extracellular vesicles against murine candidiasis

Vesículas extracelulares (EVs) são compartimentos de bicamadas lipídicas liberados por praticamente todas as células vivas, incluindo fungos. Entre as diversas moléculas transportadas por EVs fúngicas, vários imunógenos, fatores de virulência e reguladores foram caracterizados. Dentro das EVs, esses componentes podem potencialmente impactar os resultados da doença ao interagir com o hospedeiro. Dessa perspectiva, demonstramos anteriormente que EVs de Candida albicans podem ser absorvidos e ativar macrófagos e células dendríticas para produzir citocinas e expressar moléculas coestimulatórias. Além disso, o pré-tratamento de larvas de Galleria mellonella com EVs fúngicas protegeu os insetos contra uma infecção letal subsequente com leveduras de C. albicans. Esses dados indicam que EVs de C. albicans são compartimentos multiantigênicos que ativam o sistema imunológico inato e podem ser explorados como formulações de vacinas. Aqui, investigamos se a imunização com EVs de C. albicans induz um efeito protetor contra candidíase murina em camundongos imunossuprimidos. Os anticorpos IgG séricos totais e específicos para antígenos fúngicos aumentaram em 21 dias após a imunização, confirmando a eficácia do protocolo. A vacinação diminuiu a carga fúngica no fígado, baço e rim de camundongos desafiados com C. albicans. Os níveis esplênicos de citocinas indicaram uma resposta inflamatória menor em camundongos imunizados com EVs quando comparados com EVs + adjuvante de Freund (ADJ). Níveis mais altos de IL-12p70, TNFα e IFNγ foram detectados em camundongos vacinados com EVs + ADJ, enquanto IL-12p70, TGFβ, IL-4 e IL-10 foram aumentados quando nenhum adjuvante foi adicionado. A proteção total de camundongos desafiados letalmente foi observada quando EVs foram administrados, independentemente da presença de adjuvante. Propriedades físicas dos EVs também foram investigadas e os EVs produzidos por C. albicans foram relativamente estáveis ​​após armazenamento a 4, -20 ou -80°C, mantendo sua capacidade de ativar células dendríticas e proteger G. mellonella contra uma candidíase letal. Nossos dados sugerem que os EVs fúngicos podem ser uma fonte segura de antígenos a serem explorados em formulações de vacinas.Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid bilayered compartments released by virtually all living cells, including fungi. Among the diverse molecules carried by fungal EVs, a number of immunogens, virulence factors and regulators have been characterised. Within EVs, these components could potentially impact disease outcomes by interacting with the host. From this perspective, we previously demonstrated that EVs from Candida albicans could be taken up by and activate macrophages and dendritic cells to produce cytokines and express costimulatory molecules. Moreover, pre-treatment of Galleria mellonella larvae with fungal EVs protected the insects against a subsequent lethal infection with C. albicans yeasts. These data indicate that C. albicans EVs are multi-antigenic compartments that activate the innate immune system and could be exploited as vaccine formulations. Here, we investigated whether immunisation with C. albicans EVs induces a protective effect against murine candidiasis in immunosuppressed mice. Total and fungal antigen-specific serum IgG antibodies increased by 21 days after immunisation, confirming the efficacy of the protocol. Vaccination decreased fungal burden in the liver, spleen and kidney of mice challenged with C. albicans. Splenic levels of cytokines indicated a lower inflammatory response in mice immunised with EVs when compared with EVs + Freund's adjuvant (ADJ). Higher levels of IL-12p70, TNFα and IFNγ were detected in mice vaccinated with EVs + ADJ, while IL-12p70, TGFβ, IL-4 and IL-10 were increased when no adjuvants were added. Full protection of lethally challenged mice was observed when EVs were administered, regardless the presence of adjuvant. Physical properties of the EVs were also investigated and EVs produced by C. albicans were relatively stable after storage at 4, -20 or -80°C, keeping their ability to activate dendritic cells and to protect G. mellonella against a lethal candidiasis. Our data suggest that fungal EVs could be a safe source of antigens to be exploited in vaccine formulations

Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species

Estimates of extinction risk for Amazonian plant and animal species are rare and not often incorporated into land-use policy and conservation planning. We overlay spatial distribution models with historical and projected deforestation to show that at least 36% and up to 57% of all Amazonian tree species are likely to qualify as globally threatened under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. If confirmed, these results would increase the number of threatened plant species on Earth by 22%. We show that the trends observed in Amazonia apply to trees throughout the tropics, and we predict thatmost of the world’s >40,000 tropical tree species now qualify as globally threatened. A gap analysis suggests that existing Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories will protect viable populations of most threatened species if these areas suffer no further degradation, highlighting the key roles that protected areas, indigenous peoples, and improved governance can play in preventing large-scale extinctions in the tropics in this century

Measurement of the forward Z boson production cross-section in pp collisions at s=13\sqrt{s} = 13 TeV

A measurement of the production cross-section of Z bosons in pp collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13$ TeV is presented using dimuon and dielectron final states in LHCb data. The cross-section is measured for leptons with pseudorapidities in the range $2.0 \eta 4.5$, transverse momenta $p_\text{T} 20$ GeV and dilepton invariant mass in the range $60 m(\ell\ell) 120$ GeV. The integrated cross-section from averaging the two final states is \begin{equation*}\sigma_{\text{Z}}^{\ell\ell} = 194.3 \pm 0.9 \pm 3.3 \pm 7.6\text{ pb,}\end{equation*} where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is due to systematic effects, and the third is due to the luminosity determination. In addition, differential cross-sections are measured as functions of the Z boson rapidity, transverse momentum and the angular variable $\phi^*_\eta$