Multimodal imaging of human brain activity: rational, biophysical aspects and modes of integration

Until relatively recently the vast majority of imaging and electrophysiological studies of human brain activity have relied on single-modality measurements usually correlated with readily observable or experimentally modified behavioural or brain state patterns. Multi-modal imaging is the concept of bringing together observations or measurements from different instruments. We discuss the aims of multi-modal imaging and the ways in which it can be accomplished using representative applications. Given the importance of haemodynamic and electrophysiological signals in current multi-modal imaging applications, we also review some of the basic physiology relevant to understanding their relationship

A Sustainable Forest Future?

Concern about the rate at which the world's forests are being depleted is wide-spread. Recent international calls for radical efforts to reduce deforestation include the United Nations Inter-governmental Forum on Forests of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (1999), and the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (1999). This concern reflects an appreciation of the ecological and economic functions of forests: as providers of timber and many non-timber predicts, as the habitat for much of the world's biological diversity, and as regulators of local, regional and global environments. These functions are at risk. Most of the forest clearance is in areas of high forest cover and high human population pressure in tropical areas for agriculture. In temperate and boreal areas the pressures from logging are more important. But in all areas, forestry itself has an important role to play both as a partial cause of deforestation, and, if practiced wisely, as a potential source of salvation for at least some of the world's forests. In terms of its causal role, forestry tends to open up primary forest areas, enabling colonists to move in, using roads forged by the timber companies. In some parts of the world, forests are converted not to agriculture but to biomass plantations of fast growing trees or to other agro-industries based on tree-crop plantations such as palm oil and rubber. Here the primary agent is not the peasant, but the richer elements of local and international society. How, then, can the world's forests be used more wisely? It is this admittedly grand and complex question that we seek to answer in this paper. Some argue for outright protection, caricatured perhaps in the phrase 'fence and forget'. Others argue for 'sustainable forest management', and still others for systems of forest management that rely on acceptance of an initial period of exploitation of valuable species followed by outright protection. The issue, then, is the optimal use of forested land , which begs the question of what is meant by 'optimal'. This is addressed shortly

Is Sustainable Forestry Economically Possible?

Concern about the rate at which the world's forests are being depleted is wide-spread. Recent international calls for radical efforts to reduce deforestation include the United Nations Inter-governmental Forum on Forests of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, and the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development. This concern reflects an appreciation of the ecological and economic functions of forests: as providers of timber and many non-timber predicts, as the habitat for much of the world's biological diversity, and as regulators of local, regional and global environments. These functions are at risk. Most of the forest clearance is in areas of high forest cover and high human population pressure in tropical areas for agriculture. In temperate and boreal areas the pressures from logging are more important. But in all areas, forestry itself has an important role to play both as a partial cause of deforestation, and, if practiced wisely, as a potential source of salvation for at least some of the worldââ‰��������s forests. In terms of its causal role, forestry tends to open up primary forest areas, enabling colonists to move in, using roads forged by the timber companies. In some parts of the world, forests are converted not to agriculture but to biomass plantations of fast growing trees or to other agro-industries based on tree-crop plantations such as palm oil and rubber. Here the primary agent is not the peasant, but the richer elements of local and international society. How, then, can the world's forests be used more wisely? It is this admittedly grand and complex question that we seek to answer in this chapter

Sustainable Forestry in the Tropics: Panacea or Folly?

The profitability of uncontrolled logging can be a significant obstacle to sustainable forest management, especially in the tropics. Rice et al. (1997) have argued that not only does traditional selective logging provide higher returns but also incurs less damage to forests than sustainable forest management systems that involve harvesting of many species and the creation of large gaps in the forest canopy to foster regeneration of light-demanding species. They claimed that protected areas were the only viable way to conserve forest ecosystems and proposed that loggers be allowed to log forests selectively once, after which the forests should become parks. Here we respond to the challenge posed by Rice et al. by exhaustively reviewing the evidence regarding the viability and desirability of sustainable forest management in the tropics. Following Rice et al., we use the term conventional timber harvesting to refer to existing practice, which typically pays little attention to maintaining long-term timber supply. Sustainable timber management implies taking steps to ensure forests continue to produce timber in the longer term, while maintaining the full complement of environmental services and non-timber products of the forest. Empirical studies tend to confirm the conclusion of Rice et al. (1997) that although sustainable timber management sometimes provides reasonable rates of return, conventional timber harvesting is generally more profitable. This implies that without additional incentives, one cannot expect companies to adopt sustainable management. The shortsightedness of many loggers, the slow rise in international timber prices, political uncertainty, and tenure insecurity simply reinforce this tendency. However, we reject the claim that sustainable timber management generally damages forests more than conventional logging. Rice et al. base their conclusion largely on the particular case of mahogany extraction in Bolivia, and even there it may not hold. In many cases, sustainable timber management performs better in terms of carbon storage and biodiversity conservation than conventional logging approaches, as well as producing more timber. If new carbon markets emerge, sustainable forest management might compete effectively with conventional timber harvesting. Timber certification systems may also provide a sufficient incentive for sustainable forest management in certain circumstances

Needs and difficulties of food businesses in the substantiation of health and nutrition claims

The food industry has been struggling with existing guidance on how to prepare health claim dossiers. Hence the EU-funded project PATHWAY-27 seeks to provide a more tailored guidance.Within this project, robust guidelines for the food industry will be developed. The guidelines will be applicable to bioactives and bioactive enriched foods in general, to facilitate health claim documentation and dossiers.Based on a questionnaire, information on the needs and difficulties of the food industry in reaching the requirements established by the national and EU authorities (EFSA) was gathered. Particular emphasis was placed on scientific, economic, technical and technological barriers

Novel Resilience Phenotypes from a Natural Disease Challenge Model for Wean-to-Finish Pigs

Novel phenotypes from a commercial testing system could add value to selection for resilience to disease and other stressors beyond simply collecting mortality. Day-to-day variability in feed intake (FI) and in duration at the feeder (DUR), quantified by root mean squared errors (RMSE), were investigated as novel measures of resilience using data from grow-finish pigs in a natural disease challenge facility. • RMSE of FI and DUR were moderately heritable • RMSE of FI and DUR showed moderate to strong genetic correlations with mortality and treatments These results show that day-to-day variation in FI and DUR in a challenge environment can be used as indicator traits to select for disease resilience

Extensional rupture of model non-Newtonian fluid filaments

We present molecular dynamics computer simulations of filaments of model non-Newtonian liquid stretched in a uniaxial deformation to the point of breaking. The liquid consists of Lennard-Jones monomers bound into chains of 100 monomers by nonlinear springs, and several different constant velocity and constant strain rate deformations are considered. Generally we observe nonuniform extensions originating in an interplay between the stretching forces and elastic and capillary restoring mechanisms, leading to highly uneven shapes and alternating stretched and unstretched regions of liquid. Except at the fastest pulling speeds, the filaments continue to thin indefinitely and break only when depleted of molecules, rather than common viscoelastic rupture mechanisms.Comment: 7 pages text, 14 pages (eps) figure

Computed tomography-osteoabsorptiometry for assessing the density distribution of subchondral bone as a measure of long-term mechanical adaptation in individual joints

To estimate subchondral mineralisation patterns which represent the long-term loading history of individual joints, a method has been developed employing computed tomography (CT) which permits repeated examination of living joints. The method was tested on 5 knee, 3 sacroiliac, 3 ankle and 5 shoulder joints and then investigated with X-ray densitometry. A CT absorptiometric presentation and maps of the area distribution of the subchondral bone density areas were derived using an image analyser. Comparison of the results from both X-ray densitometry and CT-absorptiometry revealed almost identical pictures of distribution of the subchondral bone density. The method may be used to examine subchondral mineralisation as a measure of the mechanical adaptability of joints in the living subject