153 research outputs found
Evidence of non-extensivity in the seismicity observed during the 2011–2012 unrest at the Santorini volcanic complex, Greece
During the period of October 2011âJanuary 2012, an increase of earthquake activity has been observed in the volcanic complex of Santorini Island, Greece. Herein, the magnitude distribution of earthquakes as well as the temporal distribution of seismicity are studied. The statistics of both parameters exhibit complexity that is evident in the frequency-magnitude distribution and the inter-event time distribution, respectively. Because of this, we have used the analysis framework of non-extensive statistical physics (NESP), which seems suitable for studying complex systems. The observed inter-event time distribution for the swarm-like earthquake events, as well as the energy and the inter-event earthquake energy distributions for the observed seismicity can be successfully described with NESP, indicating the inherent complexity of the Santorini volcanic seismicity along with the applicability of the NESP concept to volcanic earthquake activity, where complex correlations exist
Der Grenzbereich Torf-Mineralische Deckschicht ein Hotspot fĂŒr Produktion und Umsetzung von CH4 und CO2
Eine gĂ€ngige Annahme ist, dass eine mineralische Deckschicht den Torfkörper vor Abbau schĂŒtzt, Eigene CO2 Messungen auf einem ackerbaulich genutzten, mineralisch ĂŒberdeckten Niedermoor (Oberrheingraben) zeigen das Gegenteil. Wir stellten die These auf, dass die hohen CO2-FlĂŒsse aus der aeroben Methanoxidation in der mineralischen Deckschicht resultieren. Der belĂŒftete Profilbereich im Grenzbereich Torf-mineralische Deckschicht entscheidet ĂŒber die Höhe der CO2-FlĂŒsse. Zur ĂberprĂŒfung wĂ€hlten wir 6 Plots entlang eines Gradienten der DeckschichtmĂ€chtigkeit (31-90 cm) aus, um sie mit Bodenluftsammlern zu bestĂŒcken. Die Bodenluft wurden in den Tiefenstufen 0-25, 26-50 und 51-75 cm (April 2016) beprobt. Parallel wurde der Gasaustausch zwischen Pedo- und AtmosphĂ€re ermittelt, ÎŽ13C von CO2 und CH4 in der Gasphase und ÎŽ13C im Boden bestimmt. Die Erfassung des Grundwasserstandes und der Redoxpotentiale dienten zur Identifikation des durchlĂŒfteten Profilbereiches. Um das mikrobielle Potential fĂŒr die Bildung und Oxidation von Methan in den unterschiedlichen Bodenschichten zu quantifizieren, wurde eine Quantitative Real-Time PCR (qPCR) durchgefĂŒhrt. Es wurden sowohl Markergene fĂŒr die Methanogenese durch Archaeen (mcrA) als auch fĂŒr die aerobe Methanoxidation durch Bakterien erfasst (pmoA). Da die partikulĂ€re Methanmonooxygenase mit der Ammoniakmonooxygenase eng verwandt ist und diese unter Ammoniak-Limitation auch CH4 oxidieren kann, wurden zusĂ€tzlich Ammoniak-oxidierende Bakterien und Archaeen quantifiziert (amoA). UnabhĂ€ngig von der MĂ€chtigkeit der Deckschicht nahm mit der Tiefe die CO2-Konzentrationen zu. Die CO2-Konzentrationen zeigten einen positiven Zusammenhang mit der Höhe des Grundwasserspiegels und der Höhe des organischen Kohlenstoffes im Boden. Mit abnehmender MĂ€chtigkeit der Deckschicht wurde eine Zunahme der CO2-Konzenztration beobachtet. Die höchsten CO2-Konzentrationen wurden dann beobachtet, wenn ein Teil des Torfköpers belĂŒftet war. Hier wurde ein Shift von Methanogenese zu Methanoxidation beobachtet. Der Effekt wurde geringer, wenn oberhalb des Grundwasserspiegels nur mineralischen Horizonte ware
The Antioxidant Potential of the Mediterranean Diet in Patients at High Cardiovascular Risk: An In-Depth Review of the PREDIMED
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading global cause of death. Diet is known to be important in the prevention of CVD. The PREDIMED trial tested a relatively low-fat diet versus a high-fat Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) for the primary prevention of CVD. The resulting reduction of the CV composite outcome resulted in a paradigm shift in CV nutrition. Though many dietary factors likely contributed to this effect, this review focuses on the influence of the MedDiet on endogenous antioxidant systems and the effect of dietary polyphenols. Subgroup analysis of the PREDIMED trial revealed increased endogenous antioxidant and decreased pro-oxidant activity in the MedDiet groups. Moreover, higher polyphenol intake was associated with lower incidence of the primary outcome, overall mortality, blood pressure, inflammatory biomarkers, onset of new-onset type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and obesity. This suggests that polyphenols likely contributed to the lower incidence of the primary event in the MedDiet groups. In this article, we summarize the potential benefits of polyphenols found in the MedDiet, specifically the PREDIMED cohort. We also discuss the need for further research to confirm and expand the findings of the PREDIMED in a non-Mediterranean population and to determine the exact mechanisms of action of polyphenols
Earnings management and audit quality:stakeholdersâ perceptions
This paper examines the perceptions of Libyan Commercial Banksâ (LCBs) stakeholders regarding the role of the external auditor in relation to earnings management (EM). A total of 28 semi-structured interviews were carried out with a range of LCB stakeholders comprising preparers of financial statements, users, regulators and academics. A questionnaire survey of stakeholders which yielded 102 Responses (response rate 53%) was also carried out. A variety of views were held which varied to some extent according to stakeholder group. A widely held perception amongst interviewees was that the auditor has the ability to detect EM practices but may not be able to prevent it. However questionnaire respondents were, in aggregate, more confident of the auditorâs ability to deter EM due to the influence of the audit report. The paper provides insights into stakeholdersâ perceptions of the quality of bank audits. The findings are of particular relevance to regulators, and specifically, the Central Bank of Libya. Perceptions of audit quality raise questions about its guidance and regulations especially in connection with audit firm rotation. Perceptions of audit quality, and therefore, of the credibility of financial statements should be of interest to all stakeholders. The importance of the banking sector for society has been amply demonstrated in recent years. A well-functioning audit function is a key component of its regulation. To the best of our knowledge, this paper is the first to examine issues related to banksâ audit quality and audit firm rotation in Libya
Climate change alters temporal dynamics of alpine soil microbial functioning and biogeochemical cycling via earlier snowmelt
From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2020-08-29, rev-recd 2021-01-26, accepted 2021-02-01, registration 2021-02-02, pub-electronic 2021-02-22, online 2021-02-22, pub-print 2021-08Publication status: PublishedFunder: RCUK | Natural Environment Research Council (NERC); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000270; Grant(s): NE/N009452/1Funder: RCUK | Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000268; Grant(s): BB/S010661/1Abstract: Soil microbial communities regulate global biogeochemical cycles and respond rapidly to changing environmental conditions. However, understanding how soil microbial communities respond to climate change, and how this influences biogeochemical cycles, remains a major challenge. This is especially pertinent in alpine regions where climate change is taking place at double the rate of the global average, with large reductions in snow cover and earlier spring snowmelt expected as a consequence. Here, we show that spring snowmelt triggers an abrupt transition in the composition of soil microbial communities of alpine grassland that is closely linked to shifts in soil microbial functioning and biogeochemical pools and fluxes. Further, by experimentally manipulating snow cover we show that this abrupt seasonal transition in wide-ranging microbial and biogeochemical soil properties is advanced by earlier snowmelt. Preceding winter conditions did not change the processes that take place during snowmelt. Our findings emphasise the importance of seasonal dynamics for soil microbial communities and the biogeochemical cycles that they regulate. Moreover, our findings suggest that earlier spring snowmelt due to climate change will have far reaching consequences for microbial communities and nutrient cycling in these globally widespread alpine ecosystems
Automated office blood pressure measurements in primary care are misleading in more than one third of treated hypertensives: The VALENTINE-Greece Home Blood Pressure Monitoring study
Abstract Background This study assessed the diagnostic reliability of automated office blood pressure (OBP) measurements in treated hypertensive patients in primary care by evaluating the prevalence of white coat hypertension (WCH) and masked uncontrolled hypertension (MUCH) phenomena. Methods Primary care physicians, nationwide in Greece, assessed consecutive hypertensive patients on stable treatment using OBP (1 visit, triplicate measurements) and home blood pressure (HBP) measurements (7 days, duplicate morning and evening measurements). All measurements were performed using validated automated devices with bluetooth capacity (Omron M7 Intelli-IT). Uncontrolled OBP was defined as â„140/90 mmHg, and uncontrolled HBP was defined as â„135/85 mmHg. Results A total of 790 patients recruited by 135 doctors were analyzed (age: 64.5 ± 14.4 years, diabetics: 21.4%, smokers: 20.6%, and average number of antihypertensive drugs: 1.6 ± 0.8). OBP (137.5 ± 9.4/84.3 ± 7.7 mmHg, systolic/diastolic) was higher than HBP (130.6 ± 11.2/79.9 ± 8 mmHg; difference 6.9 ± 11.6/4.4 ± 7.6 mmHg, p Conclusions In primary care, automated OBP measurements are misleading in approximately 40% of treated hypertensive patients. HBP monitoring is mandatory to avoid overtreatment of subjects with WCH phenomenon and prevent undertreatment and subsequent excess cardiovascular disease in MUCH
Shrub expansion modulates belowground impacts of changing snow conditions in alpine grasslands
From Wiley via Jisc Publications RouterHistory: received 2021-05-03, rev-recd 2021-06-18, accepted 2021-10-06, pub-electronic 2021-10-27Article version: VoRPublication status: PublishedFunder: Natural Environment Research Council; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000270; Grant(s): NE/N009452/1Funder: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000268; Grant(s): BB/S010661/1Abstract: Climate change is disproportionately impacting mountain ecosystems, leading to large reductions in winter snow cover, earlier spring snowmelt and widespread shrub expansion into alpine grasslands. Yet, the combined effects of shrub expansion and changing snow conditions on abiotic and biotic soil properties remains poorly understood. We used complementary field experiments to show that reduced snow cover and earlier snowmelt have effects on soil microbial communities and functioning that persist into summer. However, ericaceous shrub expansion modulates a number of these impacts and has stronger belowground effects than changing snow conditions. Ericaceous shrub expansion did not alter snow depth or snowmelt timing but did increase the abundance of ericoid mycorrhizal fungi and oligotrophic bacteria, which was linked to decreased soil respiration and nitrogen availability. Our findings suggest that changing winter snow conditions have crossâseasonal impacts on soil properties, but shifts in vegetation can modulate belowground effects of future alpine climate change
Phrase-final words in Greek storytelling speech: a study on the effect of a culturally-specific prosodic feature on short-term memory
Prosodic patterns of speech appear to make a critical contribution to memoryrelated
processing. We considered the case of a previously unexplored prosodic feature of
Greek storytelling and its effect on free recall in thirty typically developing children between
the ages of 10 and 12 years, using short ecologically valid auditory stimuli. The combination
of a falling pitch contour and, more notably, extensive final-syllable vowel lengthening,
which gives rise to the prosodic feature in question, led to statistically significantly higher
performance in comparison to neutral phrase-final prosody. Number of syllables in target
words did not reveal substantial difference in performance. The current study presents a
previously undocumented culturally-specific prosodic pattern and its effect on short-term
memory
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