Environmental Observations on the Kam Tin River, Hong Kong

Includes bibliographical references (p. 221-224

Requirements of a global information system for corn production and distribution

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

High-intensity interval walking in combination with acute green tea extract supplementation reduces postprandial blood glucose concentrations in physically inactive participants

Background: Exercise and green tea supplementation have been shown to have the potential to improve postprandial blood glucose concentrations, but past interventions have not often investigated attainable and time effective exercise protocols. Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of interval walking exercise and acute green tea extract supplementation on the glycaemic response to an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Method: Twelve physically inactive participants (nine male, three female, age: 22 ± 1 years; body mass: 81.2 ± 16.3 kg; stature: 175.7 ± 9.6 cm; body mass index (in kg/m2): 26.2 ± 4.3) underwent a 2-h OGTT immediately following i) no intervention (REST), ii) placebo and exercise (EX-PLAC), iii) green tea extract supplementation and exercise (EX-GTE), in a random order. The walking exercise consisted of 6 × 1 min of brisk walking (7.92 ± 0.56 km/h) separated by 1 min of slower walking (4.8 km/h). Differences between groups were identified using magnitude-based inferences. Results: The EX-GTE intervention resulted in a ∼9% most likely beneficial effect on blood glucose area under the curve response to the OGTT (702.18 ± 76.90 mmol/L–1·120 min–1) compared with REST (775.30 ± 86.76 mmol/L–1·120 min–1), and a very likely beneficial effect compared with the EX-PLAC (772.04 ± 81.53 mmol/L–1·120 min–1). Conclusion: These data suggest that an EX-GTE intervention can reduce postprandial glucose concentrations in physically inactive individuals

Low Mortality in Tall Tropical Trees

The dynamics of the tallest trees in tropical forests are of special interest due to their carbon content, canopy dominance, and the large canopy gaps created when they die. Known ecological mechanisms that may influence tall tree survival lead to conflicting predictions. Hydraulic stress and exposure to high winds and desiccation should increase death rates, yet the tallest trees have the greatest access to light and escape damage caused by falling boles and branches. The uncertainty in tall tree mortality rates has been difficult to address due to their low density, which makes mortality rates challenging to estimate accurately. Here, we use a combination of LiDAR remote sensing and field measurements to show that the mortality rate over 8.5 years among individuals \u3e40 m tall in 444 ha of lowland Neotropical rain forest was 1.2% per year, less than half the landscape-scale average for all canopy trees (2.7% per year). The low mortality is likely explained by species-specific traits that decrease the mortality risk and/or ecological advantages of height that outweigh the risks. Regardless of the mechanisms, the low mortality rate has important implications for tropical forest carbon budgets, as we estimated that a single tall individual represents 2–11% of total live aboveground carbon stocks per hectare. Our findings suggest that height-specific dynamics may be surprisingly different from traditional diameter-specific dynamics, emphasizing the importance of extending ecological studies to investigate the role of tree height in forest dynamics

Adolescents' experiences of street harassment: creating a typology and assessing the emotional impact

Purpose: Research examining young people's experiences of harassment has tended to focus on the school and digital environment. Despite street harassment being identified as a common experience for adult women, very few studies have explored adolescents' experiences of street harassment. Methodology: A person centred analytical approach, based on experienced reporting, was used to create a typology of street harassment. Reports of street harassment were received from 118 (68 female, 43 male, 7 no gender reported) 11- to 15-year-olds over a 6 to 8 week period. Findings: Cluster analysis revealed four distinct groups: "predominately verbal", "non-verbal/non-direct", "other incident", and "all forms". Young women and those in the "all forms" group reported experiencing greater negative emotions following the episode of street harassment. Young men were equally as likely as young women to report experiencing street harassment. Value: The findings uniquely highlight that adolescents experience distinct types of street harassment and some of which are associated with negative emotions

A Scoping Review of Barriers and Facilitators to Pap Testing in Women with Disabilities and Serious Mental Illnesses: Thirty Years After the Americans with Disabilities Act

Background: Thirty years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, promising equal access to health services for people with disabilities and serious mental illness, research on Pap testing continues to uncover health disparities among women with disabilities and women with serious mental illnesses, including those that identify as an ethnic/racial minority. Aim: The purpose of this paper is to describe and present the literature on the barriers and facilitators women with disabilities and women with serious mental illnesses face with receiving a Pap test using the social ecological model. We also examined the degree to which racial/ethnic minority women were included in these articles. Method: A scoping review was conducted where the research team searched United States academic literature from 1990 through February 2020 in PubMed, Medline, and CINAHL using general subject headings for disability, mental illness, and Pap testing. Results: Thirty-two articles met inclusion criteria. More barriers than facilitators were mentioned in articles. Barriers and facilitators are organized into three groups according to social ecological model and include individual (e.g., socioeconomic status, anxiety, education), interpersonal (e.g., family, living environment), and organizational factors (health care provider training, health care system). Participant’s race/ethnicity were often reported but minoritized populations were often not the focus of articles. Conclusions: More articles discussed the difficulties that women with disabilities and women with serious mental illnesses face with receiving a Pap test than facilitators to Pap testing. Additional research should focus on the intersectionality race/ethnicity and women with disabilities and women with serious mental illnesses in relation to Pap testing

NRG1, a CC-NB-LRR protein, together with N, a TIR-NB-LRR protein, mediates resistance against tobacco mosaic virus

In animals and plants, innate immunity is regulated by nucleotide binding domain and leucine-rich repeat (NB-LRR) proteins that mediate pathogen recognition and that activate host-cell defense responses [1, 2]. Plant NB-LRR proteins, referred to as R proteins, have amino-terminal domains that contain a coiled coil (CC) or that share similarity with animal Toll and interleukin 1 receptors (TIR) [3]. To investigate R protein function, we are using the TIR-NB-LRR protein N that mediates resistance against tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) [4] through recognition of the TMV p50 protein. Here, we describe N requirement gene 1 (NRG1), a novel N-resistance component that was identified by a virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) screen of a cDNA library [5]. Surprisingly, NRG1 encodes an NB-LRR type R protein that, in contrast to N, contains a CC rather than a TIR domain. Our findings support emerging evidence that many disease-resistance pathways each recruit more than a single NB-LRR protein. The results also indicate that, in addition to the previously recognized role in elicitor recognition, NB-LRR proteins may also function in downstream signaling pathways. ©2005 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

Linking Human Health to Biological Diversity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74648/1/j.1523-1739.1997.0110061459.x.pd