Long-term effects of environmental change and species diversity on tree radial growth in a mixed European forest

Norway spruce (Picea abies), European beech (Fagus sylvatica), silver fir (Abies alba) and Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) typically co-occur in European forests, but show contrasting response to climate and environmental change. Sustainable forest management therefore depends on species- and regional-specific information. Here, we use tree-ring width measurements of 334 beech, 280 fir, 144 spruce and 63 pine trees from 75 inventory plots in Slovakia to assess the predominant climatic factors that control radial stem growth of Europe’s economically most important forest species. All four species exhibit significant shifts in stem growth over the past 100 years. Ring width patterns were, however, not significantly affected by tree species diversity and site elevation. The resistance, resilience and recovery of all species to the extreme summer droughts between 1950 and 2003 suggest that spruce is the species most unsuitable for the predicted warmer and drier future. Silver fir may benefit from warmer conditions, although we cannot conclude that it will not suffer from predicted increased frequency of climate extremes. Forest management in this locality should aim to avoid significant loss of forest cover by replacing Norway spruce monocultures with mixed stands of silver fir and European beech

Involvement of the Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor mGluR5 in NMDA Receptor-Dependent, Learning-Facilitated Long-Term Depression in CA1 Synapses

Learning-facilitated synaptic plasticity describes the ability of hippocampal synapses to respond with persistent synaptic plasticity to the coupling of weak afferent stimulation, which is subthreshold for the induction of plasticity, with a spatial learning experience. The metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 5 (mGluR5) is critically involved in enabling the persistency of multiple forms of hippocampal synaptic plasticity. We compared the effects of pharmacological allosteric antagonism of mGluR5 in learning-facilitated plasticity with plasticity that had been induced solely by patterned afferent stimulation of the Schaffer collateral pathway to the CA1 stratum radiatum of adult freely behaving rats. Intracerebroventricular injection of the selective mGluR5 antagonist 2-methyl-6-(phenylethynyl)pyridine (MPEP) had no effect on basal synaptic transmission but significantly prevented both long-term depression (LTD) elicited by electrical stimulation and LTD facilitated by novel object-place configuration learning. NMDA receptor antagonism also prevented learning-facilitated LTD. Habituation to the objects was prevented by MPEP application. Whereas reexposure to the object-place configuration (after 7 days) failed to facilitate LTD in control animals, those who had been treated previously with MPEP expressed LTD, suggesting that inhibition of learning contributed to the initial prevention of LTD. These data support a pivotal role for mGluR5 in both hippocampal LTD and the acquisition of object-place configurations

ANALYSIS OF THE COMPETITIVENESS OF SELECTED INDUSTRIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1970-2000

The bachelor thesis deals with the analysis of the competitiveness of the American industry in selected sectors in the period 1970-2000. The thesis first introduces the individual industries it focuses on and places them in a historical context. It then discusses in more detail the factors influencing the dynamics and development of the industries in question. The aim of the thesis is to answer sub-questions leading to the testing of the hypothesis, which is: Between 1970 and 2000, the United States lost competitiveness in the automotive, steel and IT industries. To test the hypothesis, the shares of selected industries in world production over time were analyzed. In addition, cost and other quantitative indicators of U.S. product quality were examined in comparison to the major industrial powers of the time. The analysis showed that the automobile and steel industries were indeed losing competitiveness during the period. However, they managed to consolidate in the 1990s. In the IT industry, the United States of America experienced an initial decline in competitiveness in the 1970s and 1980s, but subsequently managed to focus on fast-growing market segments and became dominant in this sector. The conclusion of the paper is based on a thorough analysis and elaboration of the available data and relies on relevant sources.Bakalářská práce se zabývá analýzou konkurenceschopnosti amerického průmyslu ve vybraných odvětvích v letech 1970–2000. Práce nejprve představuje jednotlivé průmysly, kterým se věnuje, a zasazuje je do historického kontextu. Následně detailněji rozebírá faktory ovlivňující dynamiku a vývoj v daných oblastech. Cílem práce je zodpovědět dílčí otázky vedoucí k ověření hypotézy, která zní: V období let 1970–2000 Spojené státy americké ztrácely konkurenceschopnost v automobilovém, ocelářském a IT průmyslu. K ověření hypotézy byly analyzovány podíly vybraných průmyslových odvětví na světové výrobě v čase. Dále byly prozkoumány nákladové a jiné kvantitativní ukazatele kvality amerických produktů ve srovnání s největšími průmyslovými velmocemi té doby. Analýza ukázala, že automobilový a ocelářský průmysl v daném období skutečně ztrácely konkurenceschopnost. V 90. letech se jim však podařilo konsolidovat. V IT průmyslu Spojené státy americké sice v 70. a 80. letech zažily počáteční pokles konkurenceschopnosti, ale následně se dokázaly zaměřit na rychle rostoucí segmenty trhu a v tomto odvětví se staly dominantní. Závěr práce vychází z důkladné analýzy a zpracování dostupných dat a opírá se o relevantní zdroje

Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta: an option for noncompressibletorso hemorrhage?

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Hemorrhage is the major cause of early death in severely injured patients. In civilian emergency medical services, the majority of life-threatening bleedings are found in noncompressible body regions (e.g. abdomen and pelvis). Resuscitative endovascular balloon occlusion of the aorta (REBOA) has therefore been discussed in recent years as a possible lifesaving procedure and numerous studies, meta-analyses and guidelines have been published. In this review, the data situation of REBOA in the management of bleeding trauma patients is discussed and practical implementation is depicted. RECENT FINDINGS: The typical indication for REBOA is a traumatic life-threatening hemorrhage below the diaphragm in patients unresponsive or only transiently responsive to the usual conservative therapeutic measures. REBOA appears to be a safe and effective procedure to reduce blood loss and stabilize the patient's hemodynamic status. However, surgical hemostasis has to be achieved within 30-60 min after occlusion of the aorta. Data on clear advantages of REBOA over resuscitative thoracostomy are inconclusive. SUMMARY: REBOA could play an important role in the management of the severely bleeding patient in the future. Together with transfusion and therapy of coagulation disorders, REBOA may be an additional tool in the anesthetist's hands for trauma management in interprofessional care concepts

Pen-Computer-gestützte Schockraumdokumentation basierend auf dem Schwerverletzten-Erhebungsbogen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Unfallchirurgie (DGU)

Dokumentation bildet die Basis des Qualitätsmanagements. Sie liefert die Daten für alle weiteren Auswertungen und die resultierenden Folgerungen. Die daraus resultierende Forderung einer möglichst vollständigen Dokumentation stellt aber nur einen Aspekt dar. Nicht weniger wichtige Gesichtspunkte sind die gesetzliche Pflicht zur Dokumentation des ärztlichen Handelns sowie die Informationsweitergabe an weiterbehandelnde Kollegen. Das im Rahmen dieser Dissertation entwickelte Dokumentationskonzept TraumaWatch erfüllt die genannten Forderungen für den Bereich der innerklinischen Dokumentation der Notfallversorgung Schwer- und Schwerstverletzter. Nach Durchführung einer Vorstudie wurde es innerhalb eines 25-monatigem Untersuchungszeitraumes vom 01.01.1998 bis 31.01.2000 an einem für den deutschsprachigen Raum repräsentativen Kollektiv aller n=468 Schockraumpatienten des Bundeswehrkrankenhauses Ulm getestet und evaluiert. Die drei unterschiedlichen Ausbaustufen dieses Systems bieten die Möglichkeit, es an eigene Bedürfnisse und Möglichkeiten angepasst einzusetzen: 1. In Kliniken mit geringem Patientenaufkommen, aber auch in Umgebungen, in denen eine elektronische Datenaufarbeitung nicht möglich ist, kann TraumaWatch in Ausbaustufe 1 verwendet werden. 2. Ist ein umfassendes Qualitätsmanagement der Schockraumversorgung geplant, so stellt die Verwendung des Systems in Ausbaustufe 2 das Minimum dar. 3. In der dritten Ausbaustufe wird durch die Verwendung von Pen-Computern als Dokumentationsmedien eine primär elektronische Erfassung des Schockraumgeschehens möglich. <br>Im Rahmen der Ergebnisausarbeitung kann gezeigt werden, dass die Vollständigkeit der erhobenen Daten tendenziell unter primärer EDV-Dokumentation besser ist als unter primär handschriftlicher Dokumentation. Die Vollständigkeit bei den fünf eingesetzten Dokumentationsassistenten weist jedoch ebenfalls deutliche Unterschiede auf

Videolaryngoskopie im Notfall sinnvoll einsetzen

Die Bedeutung eines erfolgreichen ersten Intubationsversuchs in der Atemwegssicherung ist in mehreren Studien belegt. Zum Gelingen können neben einer guten Ausbildung und regelmäßigem Training vor allem ein standardisiertes Vorgehen im Team mit ausgiebiger Präoxygenierung und optimaler Lagerung des Patienten sowie eine ausreichend tiefe Narkose unter Einsatz von Muskelrelaxanzien und schließlich der Einsatz eines Videolaryngoskops bereits mit dem ersten Intubationsversuch beitragen. Dieser Artikel beschreibt die Möglichkeiten der Videolaryngoskopie in der prähospitalen Notfallmedizin

Der gynäkologische Notfall – Teil 1: Präsentationssymptom unklares Abdomen

Gynecological emergencies are rare situations for the emergency physician in the prehospital setting and in the emergency department. This article presents relevant emergencies of gynecology. Part 1 describes the common presentation or leading symptom: lower abdominal pain of the woman. The exact emergency history and examination are presented in a modified way. The aim is to provide a structured approach to deal with these patients

The impact of a qualified medical documentation assistant on trauma room management

Purpose!#!To improve quality of trauma room management, intra- and inter-hospital benchmarking are important tools. However, primary data quality is crucial for benchmarking reliability. In this study, we analyzed the effect of a medical documentation assistant on documentation completeness in trauma room management in comparison to documentation by physicians involved in direct patient treatment.!##!Methods!#!We included all patients treated in the trauma room from 2016/01/01 to 2016/12/31 that were documented with the trauma module of the German Emergency Department Medical Record V2015.1. We divided the data into documentation by medical documentation assistant (DA, 07:00 to 17:00), physician in daytime (PD, 07:00 to 17:00), and physician at night (PN, 17:00 to 07:00). Data were analyzed for completeness (primary outcome parameter) as well as diagnostic intervals.!##!Results!#!There was a significant increase in complete recorded data for DA (74.5%; IQR 14.5%) compared to PD (26.9%; IQR 18.7%; p &amp;lt; 0.001) and PN (30.8%; IQR 18.9; p &amp;lt; 0.001). The time to whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) significantly decreased for DA (19 min; IQR 8.3) compared to PD (24 min; IQR 12.8; p = 0.007) or PN (24.5 min; IQR 10.0; p = 0.001).!##!Conclusion!#!In presence of a qualified medical documentation assistant, data completeness and time to WBCT improved significantly. Therefore, utilizing a professional DA in the trauma room appears beneficial for data quality and time management