Composition of weed flora in spring cereals in Finland

vokKirjasto Aj-kKevätviljapeltojen rikkakasvit ja niiden runsau

Global warming will affect the maximum potential abundance of boreal plant species

Forecasting the impact of future global warming on biodiversity requires understanding how temperature limits the distribution of species. Here we rely on Liebig's Law of Minimum to estimate the effect of temperature on the maximum potential abundance that a species can attain at a certain location. We develop 95%‐quantile regressions to model the influence of effective temperature sum on the maximum potential abundance of 25 common understory plant species of Finland, along 868 nationwide plots sampled in 1985. Fifteen of these species showed a significant response to temperature sum that was consistent in temperature‐only models and in all‐predictors models, which also included cumulative precipitation, soil texture, soil fertility, tree species and stand maturity as predictors. For species with significant and consistent responses to temperature, we forecasted potential shifts in abundance for the period 2041–2070 under the IPCC A1B emission scenario using temperature‐only models. We predict major potential changes in abundance and average northward distribution shifts of 6–8 km yr−1. Our results emphasize inter‐specific differences in the impact of global warming on the understory layer of boreal forests. Species in all functional groups from dwarf shrubs, herbs and grasses to bryophytes and lichens showed significant responses to temperature, while temperature did not limit the abundance of 10 species. We discuss the interest of modelling the ‘maximum potential abundance’ to deal with the uncertainty in the predictions of realized abundances associated to the effect of environmental factors not accounted for and to dispersal limitations of species, among others. We believe this concept has a promising and unexplored potential to forecast the impact of specific drivers of global change under future scenarios.202

Theories of Reference: What Was the Question?

The new theory of reference has won popularity. However, a number of noted philosophers have also attempted to reply to the critical arguments of Kripke and others, and aimed to vindicate the description theory of reference. Such responses are often based on ingenious novel kinds of descriptions, such as rigidified descriptions, causal descriptions, and metalinguistic descriptions. This prolonged debate raises the doubt whether different parties really have any shared understanding of what the central question of the philosophical theory of reference is: what is the main question to which descriptivism and the causal-historical theory have presented competing answers. One aim of the paper is to clarify this issue. The most influential objections to the new theory of reference are critically reviewed. Special attention is also paid to certain important later advances in the new theory of reference, due to Devitt and others

2-Iodo-imidazolium receptor binds oxoanions via charge-assisted halogen bonding.

A detailed (1)H-NMR study of the anion binding properties of the 2-iodo-imidazolium receptor 1 in DMSO allows to fully attribute the observed affinities to strong charge-assisted C-IX(-) halogen bonding (XB). Stronger binding was observed for oxoanions over halides. Phosphate, in particular, binds to 1 with an association constant of ca. 10(3) M(-1), which is particularly high for a single X-bond. A remarkably short C-IO(-) contact is observed in the structure of the salt 1·H(2)PO(4)(-)

The role of surfactants in Köhler theory reconsidered

International audienceAtmospheric aerosol particles typically consist of inorganic salts and organic material. The inorganic compounds as well as their hygroscopic properties are well defined, but the effect of organic compounds on cloud droplet activation is still poorly characterized. The focus of the present study is the organic compounds that are surface active i.e. tend to concentrate on droplet surface and decrease the surface tension. Gibbsian surface thermodynamics was used to find out how partitioning between droplet surface and the bulk of the droplet affects the surface tension and the surfactant bulk concentration in droplets large enough to act as cloud condensation nuclei. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was used together with sodium chloride to investigate the effect of surfactant partitioning on the Raoult effect (solute effect). While accounting for the surface to bulk partitioning is known to lead to lowered bulk surfactant concentration and thereby to increased surface tension compared to a case in which the partitioning is neglected, the present results show that the partitioning also alters the Raoult effect, and that the change is large enough to further increase the critical supersaturation and hence decrease cloud droplet activation. The fraction of surfactant partitioned to droplet surface increases with decreasing droplet size, which suggests that surfactants might enhance the activation of larger particles relatively more thus leading to less dense clouds. Cis-pinonic acid-ammonium sulfate aqueous solutions were studied in order to study the partitioning with compounds found in the atmosphere and to find out the combined effects of dissolution and partitioning behavior. The results show that the partitioning consideration presented in this paper alters the shape of the Köhler curve when compared to calculations in which the partitioning is neglected either completely or in the Raoult effect. In addition, critical supersaturation was measured for SDS particles with dry radii of 25-60nm using a static parallel plate Cloud Condensation Nucleus Counter. The experimentally determined critical supersaturations agree very well with theoretical calculations taking the surface to bulk partitioning fully into account and are much higher than those calculated neglecting the partitioning

Who approves/pays for additional monitoring?

Major considerations in the provision of healthcare are availability, affordability, accessibility, and appropriateness, especially in the setting of heart failure where disease burden is growing, developments have been rapid and newer biomarkers, diagnostic and imaging techniques, monitoring systems, devices, procedures, and drugs have all been developed in a relatively short period of time. Many monitoring and diagnostic systems have been developed but the disproportionate cost of conducting trials of their effectiveness has limited their uptake. There are added complexities, in that the utilization of doctors for the supervision of the monitoring results may be optimal in one setting and not in another because of differences in the characteristics of organization of healthcare provision, making even interpretation of the trials we have had, still difficult to interpret. New technologies are continuously changing the approach to healthcare and will reshape the structure of the healthcare systems in the future. Mobile technologies can empower patients and carers by giving them more control over their health and social care needs and reducing their dependence on healthcare professionals for monitoring their health, but a significant problem is the integration of the multitude of monitored parameters with clinical data and the recognition of intervention thresholds. Digital technology can help, but we need to prove its cost/efficacy and how it will be paid for. Governments in many European countries and worldwide are trying to establish frameworks that promote the convergence of standards and regulations for telemedicine solutions and yet simultaneously health authorities are closely scrutinizing healthcare spending, with the objective of reducing and optimizing expenditure in the provision of health services. There are multiple factors to be considered for the reimbursement models associated with the implementation of physiological monitoring yet it remains a challenge in cash-strapped health systems

Worldwide data sets constrain the water vapor uptake coefficient in cloud formation

Cloud droplet formation depends on the condensation of water vapor on ambient aerosols, the rate of which is strongly affected by the kinetics of water uptake as expressed by the condensation (or mass accommodation) coefficient, α_c. Estimates of α_c for droplet growth from activation of ambient particles vary considerably and represent a critical source of uncertainty in estimates of global cloud droplet distributions and the aerosol indirect forcing of climate. We present an analysis of 10 globally relevant data sets of cloud condensation nuclei to constrain the value of αc for ambient aerosol. We find that rapid activation kinetics (α_c > 0.1) is uniformly prevalent. This finding resolves a long-standing issue in cloud physics, as the uncertainty in water vapor accommodation on droplets is considerably less than previously thought

OpenReq Issue Link Map : A Tool to Visualize Issue Links in Jira

Peer reviewe

The development and application of a new tool to assess the adequacy of the content and timing of antenatal care

Abstract Background: Current measures of antenatal care use are limited to initiation of care and number of visits. This study aimed to describe the development and application of a tool to assess the adequacy of the content and timing of antenatal care. Methods: The Content and Timing of care in Pregnancy (CTP) tool was developed based on clinical relevance for ongoing antenatal care and recommendations in national and international guidelines. The tool reflects minimal care recommended in every pregnancy, regardless of parity or risk status. CTP measures timing of initiation of care, content of care (number of blood pressure readings, blood tests and ultrasound scans) and whether the interventions were received at an appropriate time. Antenatal care trajectories for 333 pregnant women were then described using a standard tool (the APNCU index), that measures the quantity of care only, and the new CTP tool. Both tools categorise care into 4 categories, from ‘Inadequate’ (both tools) to ‘Adequate plus’ (APNCU) or ‘Appropriate’ (CTP). Participants recorded the timing and content of their antenatal care prospectively using diaries. Analysis included an examination of similarities and differences in categorisation of care episodes between the tools. Results: According to the CTP tool, the care trajectory of 10,2% of the women was classified as inadequate, 8,4% as intermediate, 36% as sufficient and 45,3% as appropriate. The assessment of quality of care differed significantly between the two tools. Seventeen care trajectories classified as ‘Adequate’ or ‘Adequate plus’ by the APNCU were deemed ‘Inadequate’ by the CTP. This suggests that, despite a high number of visits, these women did not receive the minimal recommended content and timing of care. Conclusions: The CTP tool provides a more detailed assessment of the adequacy of antenatal care than the current standard index. However, guidelines for the content of antenatal care vary, and the tool does not at the moment grade over-use of interventions as ‘Inappropriate’. Further work needs to be done to refine the content items prior to larger scale testing of the impact of the new measure

Fysioterapeuttinen hoito TMD-potilaalla:tapaussarja

Tiivistelmä. Purentaelimistön toimintahäiriöt (TMD) on väestössä yleisenä esiintyvä vaiva, jonka oirekirjo on laaja ja hoidontarve vaihteleva. Oireina ilmenee useimmin leukanivelten, puremalihasten sekä kasvojen alueen kiputiloja, päänsärkyä, alaleuan liikehäiriöitä sekä heijastekipuja pään ja kaulan alueella. TMD-oireiden vaikutukset toimintakykyyn ovat osalla potilasryhmästä merkittäviä. Hoidontarvetta TMD:n vuoksi ilmenee noin 7–9% :lla väestöstä. Käsitys niskan ja kaulan alueen biomekaanisten tekijöiden yhteydestä TMD-oireiluun on lisääntynyt viimeaikaisten tutkimusten myötä, mikä on ohjannut ajattelemaan myös TMD-potilaan hoitoa laaja-alaisemmin, myös varsinaisen purentaelimistön ulkopuolelle. Fysioterapia hoitomuotona ja erityisesti fyysisen harjoittelun menetelmät keskittyvät toiminnallisuuteen ja sen kautta oireiden lievittymiseen TMD:n hoidossa. Näyttö fysioterapian eri menetelmien tuloksellisuudesta TMD:n hoitomuotoina on kuitenkin vielä melko vähäistä ja sitä kaivataan lisää. Tämä tapaussarja koostuu kolmelle koehenkilölle toteutetusta yksilöllisestä fysioterapiahoitojaksosta. Koehenkilöiksi valikoitiin henkilöt, joilla oli diagnosoituna lihasperäinen TMD, ja oirekuvaan oli liittynyt niskakipua. Henkilöt täyttivät ennen tutkimusta purentaelimistön toimintahäiriöiden diagnosoimiseen laaditun Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular disorders (DC/TMD) -oirekyselyn, ja heille tehtiin kliininen tutkimus DC/TMD-protokollan mukaisesti. Koehenkilöt osallistuivat fysioterapeutin toteuttamaan fysioterapiahoitoon, joka sisälsi kolme tai neljä terapiakäyntiä. Lisäksi tutkimukseen sisältyi fysioterapeutin ja hammaslääkärin toteuttamat alkututkimukset sekä hoitokokeilun päätteeksi loppumittaukset. Kipuja ja muita oireita sekä niiden vaikutuksia toimintakykyyn kartoitettiin sekä tutkimusjakson alussa että lopussa DC/TMD (Axis I ja Axis II), Neck Disability Index (NDI) ja Örebron (lyhyt versio) -kyselyillä. Lisäksi koehenkilöt piirsivät kipukuviin kipuoireidensa lokalisaatiot alkututkimusten yhteydessä (Liitteet 1–3). DC/TMD -kysymyspatteristosta käytössä oli TMD oirekysely (DC/TMD-FIN) sekä Kivun haitta-aste (GCPS 2.0_FIN), josta laskettiin kasvokivun intensiteettiä kuvaava Characteristic Pain Intencity (CPI) sekä haitta-astetta kuvaava GCPS-indeksi (I-IV, matala intensiteetti — korkea intensiteetti — kohtalaisesti rajoittava — vaikeasti rajoittava). Koehenkilöiden kokemuksia fysioterapeuttisesta hoidosta kartoitettiin Palaute fysioterapeuttisesta hoidosta -kyselylomakkeella hoitojakson lopuksi. Fysioterapiamenetelmänä käytettiin yksilöllisesti suunniteltua harjoitusohjelmaa tähdäten sen säännölliseen toteuttamiseen omatoimiharjoitteluna, sekä lisäksi fysioterapeutin toteuttamia manuaalisia käsittelyitä vastaanottokäynneillä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli arvioida fysioterapeuttisen hoidon vaikutuksia oireisiin, kuten kipuun ja päänsärkyyn, lihasperäisen TMD:n tapauksissa. Tutkimuksen tuloksista havaittiin niskakivun vähentyneen kaikilla koehenkilöillä hoitojakson aikana niskakivun vaikutuksia päivittäisiin toimintoihin kuvaavalla Neck Disability Index (NDI) mitattuna. Kasvokivun elämänlaadullisen haitta-asteen arvioi terapiajakson aikana vähentyneen yksi koehenkilöistä, kun sen arvioimiseen käytettiin Graded Chronic Pain Scale, (GCPS)-indeksiä. Örebron työkyvyttömyyden riskiä arvioivan kyselyn perusteella havaittiin kahden koehenkilön osalta työkyvyttömyysriskin pienenemää terapiajakson aikana, kun taas yhden henkilön osalta työkyvyttömyysriskin kanssa korreloivat pisteet nousivat terapiajakson alku- ja loppumittausten välillä. Tutkimuksen tulokset fysioterapian vaikutuksista TMD-potilaiden kokemiin oireisiin sekä niiden haittavaikutuksiin tukevat osaltaan aiempaa näkemystä fysioterapian mahdollisuuksista osana TMD-potilaan kokonaishoitoa. Tutkimus luo hyvän pohjan jatkotutkimusasetelman muodostamiselle aiheesta ja fysioterapiamenetelmien tuloksellisuuden tarkemmalle arvioinnille.Physiotherapeutic treatment on a TMD-patient : a case series. Abstract. Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a common condition in a population with wide of symptoms and with varying need for a treatment. Typical symptoms include pain in the temporomandibular joints, masseter muscles and facial area, headache, mandibular dysfunction and reflective pain both in head and neck region. TMD symptoms have significant effects on a performance in some patients. 7–9% of population require a treatment for TMD. Recent studies have increased the understanding of the association of head and neck biomechanical factors for TMD symptoms. This has led thinking the treatment of TMD patient more broadly, also outside the actual occlusal system. Physiotherapy and physical training focus on enhancing functionality and thereby alleviation of symptoms in the TMD treatment. However, evidence for the effectiveness of different physiotherapy methods as a treatment for TMD is still rather limited and a further research is required on this topic. This case series consisted of an individual physiotherapy treatment session for three patients. Control subjects were diagnosed with a muscular TMD and they all suffered from a symptomatic neck pain. Subjects filled the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorder (DC/TMD) symptoms query prior to the study, and they underwent a clinical study according to the DC/TMS protocol. Subjects participated in a physiotherapy treatment, including three to four therapy visits, that were performed by a physiotherapist, as well as final measurements at the end of the treatment trial. Pain and other symptoms and their effects on performance were investigated both at the beginning and at the end of the study using DC/TMD (Axis I and Axis II), Neck Disability Index (NDI) and Örebro (a short version) surveys. In addition, subjects marked the localizations of their pain symptoms on pain images as a part of their initial studies (Appandices 1–3). Subjects’ experience of physiotherapeutic treatment were mapped using the ‘Feedback of Physiotherapeutic Treatment’ questionnaire at the end of the treatment period. The utilized physiotherapy method in this study was an individually designed exercise program which aimed at its regular implementation as a self-practise. It also included manual treatments performed by a physiotherapist during the reception visits. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of physiotherapeutic treatment on symptoms such as pain and headache in a muscular based TMD. The reduction of a neck pain was seen in all three subjects during the treatment period was measured by the NDI. Moreover, the disability degree caused by the fascial pain was decreased in one subject during the treatment period as estimated by the GCPS-index. Based on the Örebro Disability Risk Questionnaire, a decrease in disability risk was observed in two subjects during the treatment period, while for one subject, scores correlating with a disability risk were increased between baseline and final measurements. The results are in line with prior studies, suggesting that physiotherapeutic treatment may be beneficial as part of the overall treatment of a TMD patient. This study creates a good basis for the formation of a set of further research on this topic, and for a more accurate evaluation of the effectiveness of physiotherapy methods