Can we improve outcome of congenital diaphragmatic hernia?

This review gives an overview of the disease spectrum of congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). Etiological factors, prenatal predictors of survival, new treatment strategies and long-term morbidity are described. Early recognition of problems and improvement of treatment strategies in CDH patients may increase survival and prevent secondary morbidity. Multidisciplinary healthcare is necessary to improve healthcare for CDH patients. Absence of international therapy guidelines, lack of evidence of many therapeutic modalities and the relative low number of CDH patients calls for cooperation between centers with an expertise in the treatment of CDH patients. The international CDH Euro-Consortium is an example of such a collaborative network, which enhances exchange of knowledge, future research and development of treatment protocols

Seed Regeneration Potential of Canopy Gaps at Early Formation Stage in Temperate Secondary Forests, Northeast China

Promoting the seed regeneration potential of secondary forests undergoing gap disturbances is an important approach for achieving forest restoration and sustainable management. Seedling recruitment from seed banks strongly determines the seed regeneration potential, but the process is poorly understood in the gaps of secondary forests. The objectives of the present study were to evaluate the effects of gap size, seed availability, and environmental conditions on the seed regeneration potential in temperate secondary forests. It was found that gap formation could favor the invasion of more varieties of species in seed banks, but it also could speed up the turnover rate of seed banks leading to lower seed densities. Seeds of the dominant species, Fraxinus rhynchophylla, were transient in soil and there was a minor and discontinuous contribution of the seed bank to its seedling emergence. For Quercus mongolica, emerging seedling number was positively correlated with seed density in gaps (R = 0.32, P<0.01), especially in medium and small gaps (<500 m2). Furthermore, under canopies, there was a positive correlation between seedling number and seed density of Acer mono (R = 0.43, P<0.01). Gap formation could promote seedling emergence of two gap-dependent species (i.e., Q. mongolica and A. mono), but the contribution of seed banks to seedlings was below 10% after gap creation. Soil moisture and temperature were the restrictive factors controlling the seedling emergence from seeds in gaps and under canopies, respectively. Thus, the regeneration potential from seed banks is limited after gap formation

Influences of Forest Structure, Climate and Species Composition on Tree Mortality across the Eastern US

Few studies have quantified regional variation in tree mortality, or explored whether species compositional changes or within-species variation are responsible for regional patterns, despite the fact that mortality has direct effects on the dynamics of woody biomass, species composition, stand structure, wood production and forest response to climate change. Using Bayesian analysis of over 430,000 tree records from a large eastern US forest database we characterised tree mortality as a function of climate, soils, species and size (stem diameter). We found (1) mortality is U-shaped vs. stem diameter for all 21 species examined; (2) mortality is hump-shaped vs. plot basal area for most species; (3) geographical variation in mortality is substantial, and correlated with several environmental factors; and (4) individual species vary substantially from the combined average in the nature and magnitude of their mortality responses to environmental variation. Regional variation in mortality is therefore the product of variation in species composition combined with highly varied mortality-environment correlations within species. The results imply that variation in mortality is a crucial part of variation in the forest carbon cycle, such that including this variation in models of the global carbon cycle could significantly narrow uncertainty in climate change predictions

Effects of temperature on the crystal structure of epidote: a neutron single-crystal diffraction study at 293 and 1070K

The effects of temperature on the crystal structure of a natural epidote [Ca1.925 Fe0.745Al2.265Ti0.004Si3.037O12(OH), a = 8.890(6), b = 5.630(4), c = 10. 50(6) \uc5 and \u3b2 = 115.36(5)\ub0, Sp.Gr. P21/m] have been investigated by means of neutron single-crystal diffraction at 293 and 1,070 K. At room conditions, the structural refinement confirms the presence of Fe3+ at the M3 site [%Fe(M3) = 73.1(8)%] and all attempts to refine the amount of Fe at the M(1) site were unsuccessful. Only one independent proton site was located. Two possible hydrogen bonds, with O(2) and O(4) as acceptors [i.e. O(10)-H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(2) and O(10)-H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(4)], occur. However, the topological configuration of the bonds suggests that the O(10)-H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(4) is energetically more favourable, as H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(4) = 1.9731(28) \uc5, O(10)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(4) = 2.9318(22) \uc5 and O(10)-H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O4 = 166.7(2)\ub0, whereas H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(2) = 2.5921(23) \uc5, O(10)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(2) = 2.8221(17)\uc5 and O(10)-H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O2 = 93.3(1)\ub0. The O(10)-H(1) bond distance corrected for "riding motion" is 0.9943 \uc5. The diffraction data at 1,070 K show that epidote is stable within the T-range investigated, and that its crystallinity is maintained. A positive thermal expansion is observed along all the three crystallographic axes. At 1,070 K the structural refinement again shows that Fe3+ share the M(3) site along with Al3+ [%Fe(M3)1,070K = 74(2)%]. The refined amount of Fe3+ at the M(1) is not significant [%Fe(M1)1,070K = 1(2)%]. The tetrahedral and octahedral bond distances and angles show a slight distortion of the polyhedra at high-T, but a significant increase of the bond distances compared to those at room temperature is observed, especially for bond distances corrected for "rigid body motions". The high-T conditions also affect the inter-polyhedral configurations: the bridging angle Si(2)-O(9)-Si(1) of the Si2O7 group increases significantly with T. The high-T structure refinement shows that no dehydration effect occurs at least within the T-range investigated. The configuration of the H-bonding is basically maintained with temperature. However, the hydrogen bond strength changes at 1,070 K, as the O(10)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(4) and H(1)\ub7\ub7\ub7O(4) distances are slightly longer than those at 293 K. The anisotropic displacement parameters of the proton site are significantly larger than those at room condition. Reasons for the thermal stability of epidote up to 1,070 K observed in this study, the absence of dehydration and/or non-convergent ordering of Al and Fe3+ between different octahedral sites and/or convergent ordering on M(3) are discussed