Liquid Reaction Apparatus for Surface Analysis

A design for a liquid reaction apparatus is described which allows surfaces prepared in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) to be reacted with solutions of a wide pH range under dry nitrogen atmosphere and subsequently returned to UHV for surface analysis

How well do computer-generated faces tap face expertise?

The use of computer-generated (CG) stimuli in face processing research is proliferating due to the ease with which faces can be generated, standardised and manipulated. However there has been surprisingly little research into whether CG faces are processed in the same way as photographs of real faces. The present study assessed how well CG faces tap face identity expertise by investigating whether two indicators of face expertise are reduced for CG faces when compared to face photographs. These indicators were accuracy for identification of own-race faces and the other-race effect (ORE)-the well-established finding that own-race faces are recognised more accurately than other-race faces. In Experiment 1 Caucasian and Asian participants completed a recognition memory task for own- and other-race real and CG faces. Overall accuracy for own-race faces was dramatically reduced for CG compared to real faces and the ORE was significantly and substantially attenuated for CG faces. Experiment 2 investigated perceptual discrimination for own- and other-race real and CG faces with Caucasian and Asian participants. Here again, accuracy for own-race faces was significantly reduced for CG compared to real faces. However the ORE was not affected by format. Together these results signal that CG faces of the type tested here do not fully tap face expertise. Technological advancement may, in the future, produce CG faces that are equivalent to real photographs. Until then caution is advised when interpreting results obtained using CG faces

Diversity and carbon storage across the tropical forest biome

Tropical forests are global centres of biodiversity and carbon storage. Many tropical countries aspire to protect forest to fulfil biodiversity and climate mitigation policy targets, but the conservation strategies needed to achieve these two functions depend critically on the tropical forest tree diversity-carbon storage relationship. Assessing this relationship is challenging due to the scarcity of inventories where carbon stocks in aboveground biomass and species identifications have been simultaneously and robustly quantified. Here, we compile a unique pan-tropical dataset of 360 plots located in structurally intact old-growth closed-canopy forest, surveyed using standardised methods, allowing a multi-scale evaluation of diversity-carbon relationships in tropical forests. Diversity-carbon relationships among all plots at 1 ha scale across the tropics are absent, and within continents are either weak (Asia) or absent (Amazonia, Africa). A weak positive relationship is detectable within 1 ha plots, indicating that diversity effects in tropical forests may be scale dependent. The absence of clear diversity-carbon relationships at scales relevant to conservation planning means that carbon-centred conservation strategies will inevitably miss many high diversity ecosystems. As tropical forests can have any combination of tree diversity and carbon stocks both require explicit consideration when optimising policies to manage tropical carbon and biodiversity.Additional co-authors: Kofi Affum-Baffoe, Shin-ichiro Aiba, Everton Cristo de Almeida, Edmar Almeida de Oliveira, Patricia Alvarez-Loayza, Esteban Álvarez Dávila, Ana Andrade, Luiz E. O. C. Aragão, Peter Ashton, Gerardo A. Aymard C., Timothy R. Baker, Michael Balinga, Lindsay F. Banin, Christopher Baraloto, Jean-Francois Bastin, Nicholas Berry, Jan Bogaert, Damien Bonal, Frans Bongers, Roel Brienen, José Luís C. Camargo, Carlos Cerón, Victor Chama Moscoso, Eric Chezeaux, Connie J. Clark, Álvaro Cogollo Pacheco, James A. Comiskey, Fernando Cornejo Valverde, Eurídice N. Honorio Coronado, Greta Dargie, Stuart J. Davies, Charles De Canniere, Marie Noel Djuikouo K., Jean-Louis Doucet, Terry L. Erwin, Javier Silva Espejo, Corneille E. N. Ewango, Sophie Fauset, Ted R. Feldpausch, Rafael Herrera, Martin Gilpin, Emanuel Gloor, Jefferson S. Hall, David J. Harris, Terese B. Hart, Kuswata Kartawinata, Lip Khoon Kho, Kanehiro Kitayama, Susan G. W. Laurance, William F. Laurance, Miguel E. Leal, Thomas Lovejoy, Jon C. Lovett, Faustin Mpanya Lukasu, Jean-Remy Makana, Yadvinder Malhi, Leandro Maracahipes, Beatriz S. Marimon, Ben Hur Marimon Junior, Andrew R. Marshall, Paulo S. Morandi, John Tshibamba Mukendi, Jaques Mukinzi, Reuben Nilus, Percy Núñez Vargas, Nadir C. Pallqui Camacho, Guido Pardo, Marielos Peña-Claros, Pascal Pétronelli, Georgia C. Pickavance, Axel Dalberg Poulsen, John R. Poulsen, Richard B. Primack, Hari Priyadi, Carlos A. Quesada, Jan Reitsma, Maxime Réjou-Méchain, Zorayda Restrepo, Ervan Rutishauser, Kamariah Abu Salim, Rafael P. Salomão, Ismayadi Samsoedin, Douglas Sheil, Rodrigo Sierra, Marcos Silveira, J. W. Ferry Slik, Lisa Steel, Hermann Taedoumg, Sylvester Tan, John W. Terborgh, Sean C. Thomas, Marisol Toledo, Peter M. Umunay, Luis Valenzuela Gamarra, Ima Célia Guimarães Vieira, Vincent A. Vos, Ophelia Wang, Simon Willcock & Lise Zemagh

Unified treatment algorithm for the management of crotaline snakebite in the United States: results of an evidence-informed consensus workshop

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Envenomation by crotaline snakes (rattlesnake, cottonmouth, copperhead) is a complex, potentially lethal condition affecting thousands of people in the United States each year. Treatment of crotaline envenomation is not standardized, and significant variation in practice exists.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A geographically diverse panel of experts was convened for the purpose of deriving an evidence-informed unified treatment algorithm. Research staff analyzed the extant medical literature and performed targeted analyses of existing databases to inform specific clinical decisions. A trained external facilitator used modified Delphi and structured consensus methodology to achieve consensus on the final treatment algorithm.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A unified treatment algorithm was produced and endorsed by all nine expert panel members. This algorithm provides guidance about clinical and laboratory observations, indications for and dosing of antivenom, adjunctive therapies, post-stabilization care, and management of complications from envenomation and therapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Clinical manifestations and ideal treatment of crotaline snakebite differ greatly, and can result in severe complications. Using a modified Delphi method, we provide evidence-informed treatment guidelines in an attempt to reduce variation in care and possibly improve clinical outcomes.</p

An estimate of the number of tropical tree species

The high species richness of tropical forests has long been recognized, yet there remains substantial uncertainty regarding the actual number of tropical tree species. Using a pantropical tree inventory database from closed canopy forests, consisting of 657,630 trees belonging to 11,371 species, we use a fitted value of Fisher’s alpha and an approximate pantropical stem total to estimate the minimum number of tropical forest tree species to fall between ∼40,000 and ∼53,000, i.e. at the high end of previous estimates. Contrary to common assumption, the Indo-Pacific region was found to be as species-rich as the Neotropics, with both regions having a minimum of ∼19,000–25,000 tree species. Continental Africa is relatively depauperate with a minimum of ∼4,500–6,000 tree species. Very few species are shared among the African, American, and the Indo-Pacific regions. We provide a methodological framework for estimating species richness in trees that may help refine species richness estimates of tree-dependent taxa

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The global abundance of tree palms

Aim Palms are an iconic, diverse and often abundant component of tropical ecosystems that provide many ecosystem services. Being monocots, tree palms are evolutionarily, morphologically and physiologically distinct from other trees, and these differences have important consequences for ecosystem services (e.g., carbon sequestration and storage) and in terms of responses to climate change. We quantified global patterns of tree palm relative abundance to help improve understanding of tropical forests and reduce uncertainty about these ecosystems under climate change. Location Tropical and subtropical moist forests. Time period Current. Major taxa studied Palms (Arecaceae). Methods We assembled a pantropical dataset of 2,548 forest plots (covering 1,191 ha) and quantified tree palm (i.e., ≥10 cm diameter at breast height) abundance relative to co‐occurring non‐palm trees. We compared the relative abundance of tree palms across biogeographical realms and tested for associations with palaeoclimate stability, current climate, edaphic conditions and metrics of forest structure. Results On average, the relative abundance of tree palms was more than five times larger between Neotropical locations and other biogeographical realms. Tree palms were absent in most locations outside the Neotropics but present in >80% of Neotropical locations. The relative abundance of tree palms was more strongly associated with local conditions (e.g., higher mean annual precipitation, lower soil fertility, shallower water table and lower plot mean wood density) than metrics of long‐term climate stability. Life‐form diversity also influenced the patterns; palm assemblages outside the Neotropics comprise many non‐tree (e.g., climbing) palms. Finally, we show that tree palms can influence estimates of above‐ground biomass, but the magnitude and direction of the effect require additional work. Conclusions Tree palms are not only quintessentially tropical, but they are also overwhelmingly Neotropical. Future work to understand the contributions of tree palms to biomass estimates and carbon cycling will be particularly crucial in Neotropical forests