BIOMECHANICAL LOADING OF THE LOWER EXTREMITIES DURING NORDIC WALKING – A FIELD STUDY

The purpose of this study was to analyse under field conditions the loading of the lower extremities during nordic walking compared to walking. For that purpose 14 experienced, middle aged nordic walkers and 6 nordic walking instructors have been asked to walk a 1575m field track in randomised sequence, once with and once without poles. The mean vertical ground reaction forces are not different between nordic walking and walking. The present results are showing that the common opinion of a load reduction of the lower extremities by 30-50 % during Nordic Walking has to be rejected

Filosofia latino-americana e o pragmatismo norte-americano: o pensamento de Vaz Ferreira

Este artigo visa a identificar e descrever o diálogo e as conexões existentes entre o pragmatismo norte americano e a filosofia latino-americana. Deste modo, exploramos especificamente a produção teórica de Carlos Vaz Ferreira, do Uruguai, enfatizando os pontos de contato, de influência e de diálogo com o pragmatismo norte-americano. As intersecções entre o pensamento destes autores apontam para o desenvolvimento de ambas tradições como não sendo isoladas uma da outra. Isto é, é possível constatar, ainda que de maneira limitada, que há pontos de intersecção entre desenvolvimentos lineares na história dessas tradições filosóficas e que estudar estes pontos evidencia que no diálogo entre as tradições de pensamento nas Américas manifesta-se a preocupação, por exemplo, com a experiência vivida prática, o anti-cartesianismo, o falibilismo e o pluralismo. Estas preocupações possibilitam uma contribuição profícua para pensarmos a educação

A tomato strigolactone-impaired mutant displays aberrant shoot morphology and plant interactions

Strigolactones are considered a new group of plant hormones. Their role as modulators of plant growth and signalling molecules for plant interactions first became evident in Arabidopsis, pea, and rice mutants that were flawed in strigolactone production, release, or perception. The first evidence in tomato (Solanum lycopersicon) of strigolactone deficiency is presented here. Sl-ORT1, previously identified as resistant to the parasitic plant Orobanche, had lower levels of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (Glomus intraradices) colonization, possibly as a result of its reduced ability to induce mycorrhizal hyphal branching. Biochemical analysis of mutant root extracts suggested that it produces only minute amounts of two of the tomato strigolactones: solanacol and didehydro-orobanchol. Accordingly, the transcription level of a key enzyme (CCD7) putatively involved in strigolactone synthesis in tomato was reduced in Sl-ORT1 compared with the wild type (WT). Sl-ORT1 shoots exhibited increased lateral shoot branching, whereas exogenous application of the synthetic strigolactone GR24 to the mutant restored the WT phenotype by reducing the number of lateral branches. Reduced lateral shoot branching was also evident in grafted plants which included a WT interstock, which was grafted between the mutant rootstock and the scion. In roots of these grafted plants, the CCD7 transcription level was not significantly induced, nor was mycorrhizal sensitivity restored. Hence, WT-interstock grafting, which restores mutant shoot morphology to WT, does not restore mutant root properties to WT. Characterization of the first tomato strigolactone-deficient mutant supports the putative general role of strigolactones as messengers of suppression of lateral shoot branching in a diversity of plant species

SLOW MOTION Is Required for Within-Plant Auxin Homeostasis and Normal Timing of Lateral Organ Initiation at the Shoot Meristem in Arabidopsis[C][W]

Successive leaves and flowers are formed by the shoot apical meristem at regular time intervals and in a precise spatial pattern. This work identifies a specific role for Arabidopsis SLOW MOTION in maintaining the correct timing of organ formation, possibly by maintaining a sufficiently high level of auxin, the signal that triggers organ outgrowth