Chapter GIS and ex situ Plant Conservation

Electronics engineerin

Diving as a Scientist: Training, Recognition, Occupation - The “Science Diver” Project

Conducting scientific work underwater is a challenging endeavor. From collecting samples to protecting underwater cultural heritage sites scientific divers need to address issues concerning scientific methodology, diving safety, professional acknowledgement, training, legal implications etc. All of these matters are handled in different ways depending on factors like region, organizations involved, legal framework, diving philosophy etc. producing a diverse framework on scientific diving as a distinct type of underwater work. The ScienceDIVER project’s main objective is to study and analyze this fragmented landscape, in order to provide insight and suggestions towards a commonly accepted framework that will promote scientific diving as a means of forwarding knowledge both within the scientific community and its interaction with the public

Chapter GIS and ex situ Plant Conservation

Electronics engineerin

Mapping the sonic attributes: an acoustic approach for studying space

Typical geographic analysis employs data that represent mainly the visual part of a given landscape in combination with spatially referenced data for selected attributes, depending on the aims of an application. Although sound is considered a dominant component of the environment it is commonly taken into account only as a quantitative attribute (e.g. noise mapping). Acoustic ecology studies the interaction between an environment and its habitants, through the sense of hearing. The term soundscape introduced to describe the sonic dimension of space. This paper proposes a methodology for the representation of selected sonic attributes as cartographic layers. As an example, it is presented the mapping of soundscape around th

Reversal of increased arterial stiffness in severely depressed women after 6-week antidepressant treatment

Background: Increased arterial stiffness (AS) might be one significant acute mediator of the well-attested association between female depression and cardiovascular disease. Methods: We tested this hypothesis in an inpatient sample of 20 drug-free women undergoing a new clinically severe major depressive episode of recent onset with an adequately matched mentally healthy control group. Patients’ clinical (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) and vascular (Pulse-Wave-Velocity, PWV) assessments were performed both before the initiation and after the completion of their six-week antidepressant treatment. Results: Although initially patients exhibited significantly higher PWV values than controls, this was decreased and reached comparable levels to controls after treatment completion. Moreover, full-responders exhibited significantly greater vascular improvement than their partial-responders counterparts and the magnitude of their amelioration was strongly associated with the magnitude of their clinical improvement. Limitations: Our sample-size was small and patients’ follow-up short. Conclusions: Our findings provide support to the hypothesis that current severe major depressive episode in women leads acutely to aggravation of arterial stiffness, reversible however upon timely and effective antidepressant treatment. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved