111 research outputs found
Predicting olive phenology in Portugal in a warming climate
Prediction of flowering of olive trees should account for
chilling requirements, using an appropriate chilling unit
for the accounting of chilling accumulation. After chilling
requirements are satisfied, dormancy break takes place.
Thereafter, the trees enter the forcing phase, in which
the thermal time approach is used, but an appropriate
base temperature must be determined. Such a model was
developed, calibrated and validated for many olive cultivars
(De Melo-Abreu et al., 2004).
After flowering, the occurrence of developmental stages
may be predicted using a thermal time approach, but
for warm regions a saw-tooth model, which is a model
that reduces the effect of supra-optimal temperatures, is
mandatory (Garcia-Huidobro et al., :1.982).
According to the simulations of the model HadCM3,
developed by the Hadley Centre, global climate warming
will result in average temperature anomalies in winter, in
Continental Portugal, of about 2°C, in SRES scenarios 81
and 82, 3°C in scenario A2, and 4 °C in scenario A:tFI, by the
end of XXI century. (Miranda et al., 2006).
In this study, we discuss the prediction of flowering and
subsequent phenological stages and calculate and map
the times of occurrence of flowering under three warming
scenarios. No flowering or abnormal flowering events are
also predicted.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under Project Futurolive (PTDC/AGR-AAM/:1.04562/2008)
Respostas biomĂ©tricas e fisiolĂłgicas ao deficit hĂdrico em cana-de-açĂșcar em diferentes fases fenolĂłgicas
Avaliação do efeito do estresse hĂdrico no crescimento de cultivares de cana-de-açĂșcar usando um sistema automĂĄtico de fertirrigação
Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research
Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4
While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge
of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5â7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8â11 In
the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the worldâs most diverse rainforest and the primary source of
Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13â15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazonâs biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus
crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced
environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian
Amazonia, while identifying the regionâs vulnerability to environmental change. 15%â18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by
2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status,
much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Cianoacrilato na colagem de BrĂĄquetes ortodĂŽnticos em resina acrĂlica: hĂĄ maior adesĂŁo?
Pacientes em tratamento ortodĂŽntico apresentam restauraçÔes provisĂłrias com frequĂȘncia. No entanto, poucos estudos avaliam a influĂȘncia dos adesivos na resistĂȘncia ao cisalhamento dos brĂĄquetes nessas superfĂcies. A resina acrĂlica Ă© comumente indicada para colagem de brĂĄquetes, porĂ©m o uso do cianoacrilato como adesivo ortodĂŽntico Ă© uma opção analisada. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi avaliar o desempenho do cianoacrilato associado aos materiais comumente utilizados para a fixação de brĂĄquetes metĂĄlicos em restauraçÔes provisĂłrias de resina acrĂlica. Quarenta amostras em resina acrĂlica foram preparadas e as superfĂcies homogeinizadas com lixas de carboneto de silĂcio (320 e 600). Em seguida, as amostras foram divididas aleatoriamente em quatro grupos (n=10) com base no tratamento de superfĂcie e agente de uniĂŁo: G1 - brĂĄquetes colados com resina acrĂlica; G2 - brĂĄquetes colados com resina acrĂlica e aplicação de cianoacrilato; G3 - brĂĄquetes colados com Transbond(tm) XT; G4 - brĂĄquetes colados com Transbond(tm) XT e aplicação de cianoacrilato. Foram utilizados brĂĄquetes ortodĂŽnticos de aço inoxidĂĄvel, prescrição Roth, Kirium (3M/Abzil) para incisivos centrais superiores direitos, slot 022. ApĂłs colagem, as amostras foram submetidas ao teste de cisalhamento a uma velocidade de 0,5mm/min em uma mĂĄquina de ensaios universal (EMIC DL-1000). Os dados foram coletados e submetidos Ă anĂĄlise estatĂstica pelo teste ANOVA com nĂvel de significĂąncia de 5%. A associação de resina acrĂlica ao cianoacrilato (G2) resultou na maior resistĂȘncia ao cisalhamento (13,76 MPa), mas nĂŁo significativa em comparação aos valores obtidos para a resina acrĂlica (G1= 7,76 MPa). O mesmo pĂŽde ser observado para a associação Transbond(tm) XT e cianoacrilato (G4= 4,03 MPa) em relação a utilização da Transbond(tm) XT de forma isolada (G3= 3,87 MPa) e resina acrĂlica. O tratamento de superfĂcie tem efeito significativo na resistĂȘncia da uniĂŁo dos brĂĄquetes colados aos materiais provisĂłrios. A associação de cianoacrilato ao monĂŽmero de metilmetacrilato apresentou maior resistĂȘncia ao cisalhamento, sendo mais indicada clinicamente
Velocity-space sensitivity of the time-of-flight neutron spectrometer at JET
The velocity-space sensitivities of fast-ion diagnostics are often described by so-called weight functions. Recently, we formulated weight functions showing the velocity-space sensitivity of the often dominant beam-target part of neutron energy spectra. These weight functions for neutron emission spectrometry (NES) are independent of the particular NES diagnostic. Here we apply these NES weight functions to the time-of-flight spectrometer TOFOR at JET. By taking the instrumental response function of TOFOR into account, we calculate time-of-flight NES weight functions that enable us to directly determine the velocity-space sensitivity of a given part of a measured time-of-flight spectrum from TOFOR
TRY plant trait database â enhanced coverage and open access
Plant traitsâthe morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plantsâdetermine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of traitâbased plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traitsâalmost complete coverage for âplant growth formâ. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and traitâenvironmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives
Relationship of edge localized mode burst times with divertor flux loop signal phase in JET
A phase relationship is identified between sequential edge localized modes (ELMs) occurrence times in a set of H-mode tokamak plasmas to the voltage measured in full flux azimuthal loops in the divertor region. We focus on plasmas in the Joint European Torus where a steady H-mode is sustained over several seconds, during which ELMs are observed in the Be II emission at the divertor. The ELMs analysed arise from intrinsic ELMing, in that there is no deliberate intent to control the ELMing process by external means. We use ELM timings derived from the Be II signal to perform direct time domain analysis of the full flux loop VLD2 and VLD3 signals, which provide a high cadence global measurement proportional to the voltage induced by changes in poloidal magnetic flux. Specifically, we examine how the time interval between pairs of successive ELMs is linked to the time-evolving phase of the full flux loop signals. Each ELM produces a clear early pulse in the full flux loop signals, whose peak time is used to condition our analysis. The arrival time of the following ELM, relative to this pulse, is found to fall into one of two categories: (i) prompt ELMs, which are directly paced by the initial response seen in the flux loop signals; and (ii) all other ELMs, which occur after the initial response of the full flux loop signals has decayed in amplitude. The times at which ELMs in category (ii) occur, relative to the first ELM of the pair, are clustered at times when the instantaneous phase of the full flux loop signal is close to its value at the time of the first ELM
Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990-2015: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015
Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context.
Methods: We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factorsâthe summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI).
Findings: Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25%. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25% over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8% (95% CI 56·6â58·8) of global deaths and 41·2% (39·8â42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million [192·7 million to 231·1 million] global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million [134·2 million to 163·1 million]), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million [125·1 million to 163·5 million]), high BMI (120·1 million [83·8 million to 158·4 million]), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million [103·9 million to 123·4 million]), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million [90·8 million to 115·1 million]), high total cholesterol (88·7 million [74·6 million to 105·7 million]), household air pollution (85·6 million [66·7 million to 106·1 million]), alcohol use (85·0 million [77·2 million to 93·0 million]), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million [49·3 million to 127·5 million]). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa.
Interpretation: Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden.
Funding: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Search for jet extinction in the inclusive jet-pT spectrum from proton-proton collisions at s=8 TeV
Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published articles title, journal citation, and DOI.The first search at the LHC for the extinction of QCD jet production is presented, using data collected with the CMS detector corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.7ââfbâ1 of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. The extinction model studied in this analysis is motivated by the search for signatures of strong gravity at the TeV scale (terascale gravity) and assumes the existence of string couplings in the strong-coupling limit. In this limit, the string model predicts the suppression of all high-transverse-momentum standard model processes, including jet production, beyond a certain energy scale. To test this prediction, the measured transverse-momentum spectrum is compared to the theoretical prediction of the standard model. No significant deficit of events is found at high transverse momentum. A 95% confidence level lower limit of 3.3 TeV is set on the extinction mass scale
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