Grass and herb photosynthesis and productivity in a resource-limited Eucalyptus woodland under elevated atmospheric CO2

It has been suggested that plant species from the warmer ecosystems will show different and potentially larger photosynthesis and productivity responses to elevated CO2 (eCO2, ambient + 150 ppm) compared to those from the cold temperate ecosystems, on the basis of higher average annual temperature and greater water deficits in the former ecosystems. Based on these expectations, it has further been predicted that the warm water-limited ecosystems may have a greater potential to sequester the extra C that has been assimilated under eCO2. However, empirical evidences testing these expectations are scarce. The overall aim of this thesis was to investigate the effects of eCO2 on photosynthesis and productivity responses of the evergreen C3 herbaceous species from the understory of a periodically water-limited warm-temperate Eucalyptus woodland. In a three-year field study conducted at the Eucalyptus free-air CO2 enrichment experiment (EucFACE), I investigated how eCO2-induced enhancement of photosynthetic rates (Anet) in herbaceous species varied with seasonal water availability. During the second and third year of CO2 fertilisation at EucFACE, I measured the seasonal photosynthetic acclimation responses to eCO2 in two dominant species- a C3 forb and a C3 grass, and measured responses of peak above-ground biomass to eCO2 for total forbs and grasses. In a glasshouse experiment, I tested whether the species or functional groups growing under similar water inputs and nutrient availability differed in their photosynthetic or biomass allocation and growth responses to eCO2 for two C3 forbs and two C3 grasses. also evidence of photosynthetic acclimation under eCO2 in the dominant C3 herbaceous species, especially during the peak growing season of spring. Also, there was no proportional stimulation of peak above-ground biomass in the understory grasses and forbs, which may have been a result of lack of a ‘water-savings effect’ of eCO2 and/or higher soil nutrient limitation. C3 grasses and C3 forbs differed in their photosynthetic and biomass allocation responses to eCO2. Differences in leaf N content, N allocation and changes in above-ground biomass allocation likely affected the CO2 responsiveness in these functional groups. In particular, there was an ability to maintain greater leaf area index, N allocation to photosynthesis and avoid down-regulation under eCO2 by the grasses but not by the forbs. Findings from the current study suggest that interactions between seasonal water-availability eCO2 will be critical in determining relative Anet enhancement response in herbaceous species from a water-limited ecosystem. However, the enhancement response may not be mediated via a ‘water-savings effect’ of eCO2, which contrasts with the earlier findings from cold temperate ecosystems. Furthermore, evidence of photosynthetic capacity down-regulation in the dominant species and lack of relative increase in biomass under eCO2, suggest a limited capacity of the understory herbaceous species from a grassy woodland to respond to eCO2 and ultimately act as an aboveground C sink in future

Transient Myeloproliferative Disorder and Down Syndrome Is there a link?

An extremely premature male neonate presented with an unusual multisystem dysfunction within the first 24 to 48 hours of life. The unfolding of clinical events and investigations revealed a transient myeloproliferative disorder (TMD). TMD was the main indication for karyotyping of this premature infant without clinical symptoms of Down syndrome. The awareness of TMD in a newborn warrants karyotype analysis to look for trisomy 21 and a close surveillance because of its potential progression to true leukaemia.

Harvesting Image Databases from The Web

The research work presented here includes data mining needs and study of their algorithm for various extraction purpose. It also includes work that has been done in the field of harvesting images from web. Here the proposed method is to harvest image databases from web. We can automatically generate a large number of images for a specified object. By applying concept of data mining and the algorithm from data mining which is used for extraction of data or harvesting images. A multimodal approach employing text ,metadata and visual  features is used to gather many high-quality images from the web. The modules can be made to find query images by selecting images where nearby text is top ranked by the topic i.e., formation of image clusters then download associate images by using approaches like web search, image search and Google images. Apply re-ranking algorithm and then filtering process to harvest the images.Currently, image search gives a very low precision (only about 4%) and is not used for the harvesting experiments. Since the movements of the technologies are growing rapidly the kinds of work also need to be grown up. This work shows an approach to harvest a large number of images of a particular class automatically and to achieve this with high precision by providing training databases so that a new object model can be learned effortlessly. Many other tools also are available for harvesting images from web .An approach in this paper is original and up to the mark. Keywords: Legacy code, re-engineering, class diagrams, Aggregation, Association, Attribute

Envisioning a Decolonial Digital Mental Health

The field of digital mental health is making strides in the application of technology to broaden access to care. We critically examine how these technology-mediated forms of care might amplify historical injustices, and erase minoritized experiences and expressions of mental distress and illness. We draw on decolonial thought and critiques of identity-based algorithmic bias to analyze the underlying power relations impacting digital mental health technologies today, and envision new pathways towards a decolonial digital mental health. We argue that a decolonial digital mental health is one that centers lived experience over rigid classification, is conscious of structural factors that infuence mental wellbeing, and is fundamentally designed to deter the creation of power differentials that prevent people from having agency over their care. Stemming from this vision, we make recommendations for how researchers and designers can support more equitable futures for people experiencing mental distress and illness

Water availability affects seasonal CO₂-induced photosynthetic enhancement in herbaceous species in a periodically dry woodland

Elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2) is expected to reduce the impacts of drought and increase photosynthetic rates via two key mechanisms: first, through decreased stomatal conductance (gs) and increased soil water content (VSWC) and second, through increased leaf internal CO2 (Ci) and decreased stomatal limitations (Slim>). It is unclear if such findings from temperate grassland studies similarly pertain to warmer ecosystems with periodic water deficits. We tested these mechanisms in three important C3 herbaceous species in a periodically dry Eucalyptus woodland and investigated how eCO2-induced photosynthetic enhancement varied with seasonal water availability, over a 3 year period. Leaf photosynthesis increased by 10%–50% with a 150 μmol mol-1 increase in atmospheric CO2 across seasons. This eCO2-induced increase in photosynthesis was a function of seasonal water availability, given by recent precipitation and mean daily VSWC. The highest photosynthetic enhancement by eCO2 (>30%) was observed during the most water-limited period, for example, with VSWC 2 there was neither a significant decrease in gs in the three herbaceous species, nor increases in VSWC, indicating no “water-savings effect” of eCO2. Periods of low VSWC showed lower gs (less than ≈ 0.12 mol m-2 s-1), higher relative Slim (>30%) and decreased Ci under the ambient CO2 concentration (aCO2), with leaf photosynthesis strongly carboxylation-limited. The alleviation of Slim by eCO2 was facilitated by increasing Ci, thus yielding a larger photosynthetic enhancement during dry periods. We demonstrated that water availability, but not eCO2, controls gs and hence the magnitude of photosynthetic enhancement in the understory herbaceous plants. Thus, eCO2 has the potential to alter vegetation functioning in a periodically dry woodland understory through changes in stomatal limitation to photosynthesis, not by the “water-savings effect” usually invoked in grasslands

Non-cell autonomous OTX2 transcription factor regulates anxiety-related behaviors in the mouse

The Otx2 homeoprotein transcription factor is expressed in the dopaminergic neurons of the ventral tegmental area, a mesencephalic nucleus involved in the control of complex behaviors through its projections to limbic structures, including the ventral hippocampus, amygdala, nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex. We find adult mice heterozygous for Otx2 show a hypoanxious phenotype in light-dark box and elevated plus maze paradigms. However, the number of dopaminergic neurons, the integrity of their axons, their projection patterns in target structures, and the amounts of dopamine and dopamine metabolites in targets structures were not modified in the Otx2 mutant. Because OTX2 is expressed by the choroid plexus, secreted into cerebrospinal fluid and transferred to parvalbumin interneurons of the cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala, we investigated if the hypoanxiety of Otx2 heterozygous mice could result from the decreased synthesis of Otx2 in the choroid plexus. Indeed, hypoanxious phenotype was reversed by the overexpression of Otx2 specifically in choroid plexus of adult Otx2 heterozygous mice, while hypoanxious phenotype could be induced in adult wild type mice by lowering OTX2 levels in the cerebrospinal fluid. Taken together, OTX2 synthesis by the choroid plexus followed by its secretion into the cerebrospinal fluid is an important regulator of the anxiety phenotype in the mouse. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission

The WHO QualityRights initiative: Building partnerships among psychiatrists, people with lived experience and other key stakeholders to improve the quality of mental healthcare

Psychiatrists have an essential role to play in promoting human rights in mental healthcare. The World Health Organization's QualityRights initiative, in partnership with different stakeholders, is improving the quality of psychiatric care in different countries

Spray washes of organic acids to decontaminate pork carcass tissues in India

Medical and commercial requirements to extend safe, high quality shelf life of food, have focussed attention on decontamination systems. Organic acid sprays of acetic, propionic and lactic at 3Kg/cm\u27 pressure and 1%, 2% and 3% concentrations, individually and in combination, were used to decontaminate pork samples. It was observed that out of 3 acids lactic acid at 2% was found to reduce the total viable count (TVC) by 0.07 log units whereas the combination treatment of 3% acetic and propionic acids resulted in 0.09 log unit reduction of TVC without affecting the color and odour score. The shelf life, on analysis, was sound to almost double at refrigeration storage as compared to control. Thus, 2 % lactic acid and 3% acetic + propionic acids offer scope for reduction in microflora and suppression of pathogen proliferation on pork samples during refrigeration storage and transport, thereby improving meat quality and shelf life

A simple method of estimating folic acid absorption (a modified faecal excretion method)

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