Responses of ectomycorrhizal fungi to mineral substrates

Boreal forest soils are complex, heterogeneous growth substrates where organic and mineral components provide nutrient resources for soil organisms and plants. Mineral nutrients are cycled between living and dead organic components of the forest soil and weathering of soil minerals provides an important input of new resources, compensating for losses from the ecosystem. Predicting soil responses to changing climate and management practices is important to determine their effect on forest production. Models for this purpose are largely based on the concept of the soil solution as the interface controlling soil processes such as weathering and nutrient uptake by plants, whereas soil microbiology recognises microbial processes as the driving force in soil nutrient cycling. In boreal forests most tree root tips are colonised by ectomycorrhizal fungi. The mycelia of these symbiotic fungi mediate nutrient uptake by their tree hosts. These fungi are abundant in the organic layer of forest soils and ectomycorrhizal research has therefore largely focused on nutrient uptake from this horizon. Minerals in the soil may, however, also serve as nutrient resources for ectomycorrhizal fungi. Through combined chemical and physical processes fungi can affect nutrient availability by weathering minerals. This thesis describes a field experiment investigating the distribution of different ectomycorrhizal fungi in organic and mineral forest soil horizons, in vitro studies of fungal acidification of artificial substrates with different mineral element composition, microcosm studies of growth and carbon allocation in intact ectomycorrhizal systems colonising heterogeneous mineral substrates and a preliminary investigation of changes in surface micro-topography of minerals colonised by ectomycorrhizal hyphae. Half of the fungal species identified in the forest soil occurred exclusively in the mineral horizons. Mycelial growth, carbon allocation and substrate acidification by fungi colonising different mineral substrates in vitro and in microcosms appeared to be influenced by mineral element composition. Interpretation of possible modification of mineral surface micro-topography is more difficult but together the results obtained suggest that ectomycorrhizal fungi may contribute to the development of microenvironments on colonised mineral surfaces, where increased weathering can take place. Processes regulating nutrient availability in such microenvironments are different from those estimated from the bulk soil solution

'Big is beautiful' – an exploration with urban black community health workers in a South African township

OBJECTIVES: To explore perceptions about factors associated with body weight and body image among black female community health workers (CHWs) living and working in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. DESIGN: A descriptive, cross-sectional study. Setting. Khayelitsha, a black township in Cape Town, South Africa. SUBJECTS: Forty-four black, female, Xhosa-speaking CHWs working in Khayelitsha. Outcome measures. Anthropometric measures (height, weight, and waist circumference) were taken. Body mass index (BMI) was computed as a measure to estimate total body fat. Waist circumference was used as a measure of abdominal obesity. Focus groups were employed to explore beliefs and attitudes about body size. Information from the focus group discussions was used to develop a semi-structured questionnaire for individual interviews, which were conducted to validate the data from the focus groups, and to assess knowledge on causes and risk factors associated with obesity. A body satisfaction question was also included in the questionnaire. Body image was measured using body shape drawings (pictograms). RESULTS: Of the 44 women measured, 2 had normal weight (BMI 18.5 - 24.9 kg/m2), 2 were overweight (BMI 25 - 30 kg/m2), 25 were obese (BMI 30 - 40 kg/m2) and 15 were extremely obese (BMI ≥ ( 40 kg/m2). A moderately overweight shape (BMI 27 kg/m2) was preferred; this was associated with dignity, respect, confidence, beauty, and wealth. Perceived causes of obesity were eating the wrong food, skipping breakfast and worries about debts, husbands/partners and teenage children. Negative aspects of obesity included body aches and tiredness. CONCLUSION: This study emphasises the prevalence of obesity among urban black women in South Africa, particularly among CHWs. Socio-cultural, behavioural and environmental factors seem to influence the development of obesity in this population.Christian Aids in London and Provincial Administration of the Western Cape

Therapeutic creativity and the lived experience of grief in the collaborative fiction film Lost Property

This collaborative project aimed to represent the embodied experience of grief in a fiction film by drawing on research, and on the personal and professional experience of all involved: academics; an artist; bereavement therapists and counsellors; and professional actors, cinematographers, sound engineers and other film crew. By representing grief in a more phenomenologically minded manner, the project sought to capture the lived experience of loss on screen while contributing meaningfully to the discourse on practice-as-research. Hay, Dawson and Rosling used a collaborative fiction film and participatory action research to investigate whether storying loss, and representing it through narrative, images and embodied movement, is therapeutic. Participatory action research was beneficial in facilitating changes in the co-researchers’ thinking, feeling and practice, and in enabling participants to inhabit multiple roles in a manner that expanded their disciplinary boundaries. However, while the project’s effect on some of the participants demonstrated the ways that creativity and meaning making can support adaptive grieving, it also revealed the risks of using participatory action research and fiction film to investigate highly emotive topics such as grief

Strong altitudinal partitioning in the distributions of ectomycorrhizal fungi along a short (300 m) elevation gradient

• Changes in species richness and distributions of ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal communities along altitudinal gradients have been attributed to changes in both host distributions and abiotic variables. However, few studies have considered altitudinal relationships of ECM fungi associated with a single host to identify the role of abiotic drivers. To address this, ECM fungal communities associated with one host were assessed along five altitudinal transects in Scotland. • Roots of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were collected from sites between 300 and 550–600 m altitude, and ECM fungal communities were identified by 454 pyrosequencing of the fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region. Soil moisture, temperature, pH, carbon : nitrogen (C : N) ratio and organic matter content were measured as potential predictors of fungal species richness and community composition. • Altitude did not affect species richness of ECM fungal communities, but strongly influenced fungal community composition. Shifts in community composition along the altitudinal gradient were most clearly related to changes in soil moisture and temperature. • Our results show that a 300 m altitudinal gradient produced distinct shifts in ECM fungal communities associated with a single host, and that this pattern was strongly related to climatic variables. This finding suggests significant climatic niche partitioning among ECM fungal species

Stellenwert der kontrastmittelunterstützten Sonographie im Vergleich zur konventionellen B-Bild Sonographie in der Darstellung von Milzlazerationen bei Patienten mit traumatischen und nicht-traumatischen Milzverletzungen: eine retrospektiv deskriptive Studie

Das Krankheitsbild der traumatischen Milzverletzungen wurde bereits in vielen Studien untersucht und beschrieben (Tinkoff et al., 2008). Dahingegen treten die spontanen Milzverletzungen sehr viel seltener auf, Symptomatik, Diagnostik, Therapie und Verlauf wurden nur vereinzelt beschrieben (Cölle, 2003; Weaver et al., 2013; Wehbe et al., 2008). In dieser retrospektiven Studie wurden die Krankeitsbilder von 62 Patienten mit traumatischen und spontanen Milzverletzungen, die in einem gleichen Zeitraum in einem universitären Ultraschallabor diagnostiziert wurden, miteinander verglichen und analysiert. Der Fokus des Vergleiches lag auf der Klinik, dem sonographischen Erscheinungsbildes und Grading (sowohl im B-­‐Bild US als auch in der CEUS), der Therapie und dem Verlaufs. Es konnten deutliche Unterschiede bei den klinischen Daten hinsichtlich Alter, Grunderkrankungen und Verlauf gezeigt werden. So waren Patienten mit traumatischen MV jünger, hatten keine Splenomegalie, keine maligne Grundkrankheit und keine verletzungsbedingte Mortalität. Patienten mit spontaner MV waren älter, zeigten häufiger eine Splenomegalie, hatten vermehrt eine maligne Grunderkrankung und eine erhöhte Mortalität innerhalb der ersten vier Wochen nach Diagnose einer MV. Im sonographischen Erscheinungsbild konnten keine signifikanten Unterschiede zwischen traumatischen und spontanen Milzverletzungen festgestellt werden: Es handelt sich weitgehend um fokale, intraparenchymatös lokalisierte, vorwiegend echoarme oder isoechogene Läsionen. Sie weisen sich durch Inhomogenität in ansonsten homogenem Milzgewebe aus. In der CEUS heben sich MV durch fokale homogen echofreie Läsionen bzw. Areale mit fehlender Kontrastmittelanreicherung im Vergleich zum umgebenden Milzgewebe ab. Schwerwiegende Komplikationen wie Grad 4 Lazerationen traten in beiden Gruppen gleich häufig auf. Hinsichtlich des Stellenwert der CEUS im Vergleich mit der B-­‐Bild Sonographie konnte bestätigt werden, dass die CEUS der B-­‐Bild-­‐Sonographie überlegen war was die sichere Diagnosestellung und dem Grading der Milzverletzung betraf. Die CEUS beeinflusste in Subgruppen die Therapiewahl. Bei jedem Verdacht auf eine Milzverletzung sollte eine CEUS durchgeführt werden. Die Häufigkeit von unterschiedlichen Therapiemaßnahmen wie Splenektomie, interventionelle radiologische Prozeduren und klinisch/sonographischen Verlaufskontrollen variierten zwischen spontanen und traumatischen MV nicht. Abschließend kann gesagt werden, dass sich das Krankheitsbild der spontanen Milzverletzungen vor allem hinsichtlich der Klinik, dem Verlauf und der Prognose deutlich von dem Krankheitsbild der traumatischen Milzverletzungen unterscheidet. Hinsichtlich des sonographischen Erscheinungsbild im B-­‐Bild und CEUS zeigen sich identische Verletzungsmuster

LAS MEJORES ESTADISTICAS QUE HAS VISTO

El año pasado salió a la luz el libro póstumo de este médico de éxito mundial, Factfulness: “Diez razones por las que estamos equivocados sobre el mundo, y por qué las cosas están mejor de lo que piensas”, escrito en compañía de Ola Rosling y Anna Rosling Rönnlund. De inmediato, Bill Gates lo incluyó en su lista de los mejores “libros favoritos de todos los tiempos”. Nacido en 1948 y fallecido en febrero de 2017, Hans Rosling fue un profesor de salud global en el Instituto Karolinska de Suecia, dedicado en su trabajo a criticar los mitos comunes sobre el llamado “mundo en desarrollo”, dado que su experiencia personal le había demostrado que esta región ya dejó de ser un mundo alejado de los patrones de desarrollo típicos de Occidente. En su opinión, la mayor parte de las llamadas “sociedades del Tercer Mundo” se encuentran hoy en la misma trayectoria de desarrollo de las metas de salubridad y prosperidad de Occidente, e incluso muchos de estos países se están moviendo dos veces más rápido. El año pasado salió a la luz el libro póstumo de este médico de éxito mundial, Factfulness: “Diez razones por las que estamos equivocados sobre el mundo, y por qué las cosas están mejor de lo que piensas”, escrito en compañía de Ola Rosling y Anna Rosling Rönnlund. De inmediato, Bill Gates lo incluyó en su lista de los mejores “libros favoritos de todos los tiempos”. Nacido en 1948 y fallecido en febrero de 2017, Hans Rosling fue un profesor de salud global en el Instituto Karolinska de Suecia, dedicado en su trabajo a criticar los mitos comunes sobre el llamado “mundo en desarrollo”, dado que su experiencia personal le había demostrado que esta región ya dejó de ser un mundo alejado de los patrones de desarrollo típicos de Occidente. En su opinión, la mayor parte de las llamadas “sociedades del Tercer Mundo” se encuentran hoy en la misma trayectoria de desarrollo de las metas de salubridad y prosperidad de Occidente, e incluso muchos de estos países se están moviendo dos veces más rápido.&nbsp

The next generation fungal diversity researcher

Fungi are more important to our lives than is assumed by the general public. They can comprise both devastating pathogens and plant-associated mutualists in nature, and several species have also become important workhorses of biotechnology. Fungal diversity research has in a short time transcended from a low-tech research area to a method-intensive high-tech discipline. With the advent of the new genomic and post-genomic methodologies, large quantities of new fungal data are currently becoming available each year. Whilst these new data and methodologies may help modern fungal diversity researchers to explore and discover the yet hidden diversity within a context of biological processes and organismal diversity, they need to be reconciled with the traditional approaches. Such a synthesis is actually difficult to accomplish given the current discouraging situation of fungal biology education, especially in the areas of biodiversity and taxonomic research. The number of fungal diversity researchers and taxonomists in academic institutions is decreasing, as are opportunities for mycological education in international curricula. How can we educate and stimulate students to pursue a career in fungal diversity research and taxonomy and avoid the situation whereby only those few institutions with strong financial support are able to conduct excellent research? Our short answer is that we need a combination of increased specialization and increased collaboration, i.e. that scientists with specialized expertise (e.g., in data generation, compilation, interpretation, and communication) consistently work together to generate and deliver new fungal knowledge in a more integrative manner – closing the gap between both traditional and modern approaches and academic and non-academic environments. Here we discuss how this perspective could be implemented in the training of the ‘next generation fungal diversity researcher’

Scientism recognizes evidence only of the quantitative/general variety

Rationale, aims and objectivesMcHugh and Walker introduced a model of knowledge to demonstrate that EBM is a form of scientism that ignores important sources of knowledge thereby impairing the practice of medicine. We study the development of this model and explore additional applications.MethodsReview of the relevant literature and identification of possible areas for fruitful application.ResultsWe show that the McHugh and Walker model is closely related to the model of evidence considered earlier by Upshur et al. We also indicate that the utility of this model is not limited to showing scientism distorts clinical practice. Several representative applications are identified, including psychotherapy, the Salk polio vaccine trial, and the placebo effect.ConclusionsPriority should be given to Upshur et al for the development of a model that has far‐reaching application to medical epistemology. It is shown that all four of the types of evidence considered—qualitative/personal, qualitative/general, quantitative/general, and quantitative/personal—are required to adequately characterize epistemology in medical research and practice.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154650/1/jep13330_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154650/2/jep13330.pd

Organic phosphorus in the terrestrial environment: a perspective on the state of the art and future priorities

Background The dynamics of phosphorus (P) in the environment is important for regulating nutrient cycles in natural and managed ecosystems and an integral part in assessing biological resilience against environmental change. Organic P (Po) compounds play key roles in biological and ecosystems function in the terrestrial environment being critical to cell function, growth and reproduction. Scope We asked a group of experts to consider the global issues associated with Po in the terrestrial environment, methodological strengths and weaknesses, benefits to be gained from understanding the Po cycle, and to set priorities for Po research. Conclusions We identified seven key opportunities for Po research including: the need for integrated, quality controlled and functionally based methodologies; assessment of stoichiometry with other elements in organic matter; understanding the dynamics of Po in natural and managed systems; the role of microorganisms in controlling Po cycles; the implications of nanoparticles in the environment and the need for better modelling and communication of the research. Each priority is discussed and a statement of intent for the Po research community is made that highlights there are key contributions to be made toward understanding biogeochemical cycles, dynamics and function of natural ecosystems and the management of agricultural systems