Resistance of plant life forms of native and regenerated alpine plant communities to experimental trampling

Trampling of vegetation as a result of recreation can adversely affect natural habitats, leading to loss of vegetation and degradation of plant communities. Many studies indicated that intrinsic properties of plant communities appear to be the most important factors determining the response of vegetation to trampling disturbance. Specifically, the dominant life-form of a plant community accounts for more variation in the resistance of communities to trampling than the intensity of the trampling experienced, suggesting that simple assessments based on this trait could guide decisions on access to natural sites. We verify these claims in the Belianske Tatry National Nature Reserve in Slovakia, which has been closed since 1978 due to destruction by mass tourism, with the exception of one trail made accessible since 1993. In researching the resistance of communities according to dominant life forms we adjusted the number of passes according to the minimum (75 tourists) and maximum (225 tourists) daily visitation during the tourist season. The studied communities occur in close proximity to the trails on the saddles through which the open trail passes. Available evidence from our studies suggests that vegetation dominated by hemicryptophytes is more resistant to trampling and recovers from trampling to a greater extent than vegetation dominated by other life forms. Therefore, we selected three alpine communities dominated by hemicryptophytes. In the Juncetum trifidi community, they almost completely dominate, they are mainly composed of grasses. Although they dominate the Junco trifidi-Callunetum vulgaris community, the species, Calluna vulgaris has been added to the woody chamephytes, and thus the woody Chamaephytes achieve a higher cover than in the Juncetum trifidi community. Although in the community Seslerietum tatrae biscutelletosum laevigatae hemicryptophytes dominate, it consists of several plant life forms and its grasses reach greater heights than in previous communities. We found that it is not possible to estimate the resilience of communities to trampling by dominant life forms. Life forms within one community react very similarly, but this statement cannot be generalized globally for all communities. At the same time, we found that if we damage the native community, which subsequently regenerates, the life forms of the community behave differently when damaged repeatedly. More detailed research is needed worldwide, which would point out patterns of behaviour of alpine plant vegetation to trampling

Study of correlation among ploidy level and steroid glycoalkaloids content in resistance in cultivated and uncultivated potato species from an in vitro genebank

The present research was carried out with the aim to determine the correlation between ploidy level, steroid glycoalkaloids (SGAs) content and resistance against Late blight (Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary), and Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Say)) in cultivated and wild Solanum species preserved in the Potato Gene Bank of Czech Republic. In this study 27 species were included which consist of five cultivated and 22 wild species, with a total of 31 genotypes (four species represented by two accessions). In this study 70.97% of genotypes were evaluated as diploid, 3.23% were triploid, 19.35% tetraploid and 6.45% hexaploid as depicted from counting of chromosomes. The highest concentration, of foliage α-solanine (5,450 mg kg-1 ) and α-chaconine (9,420 mg kg-1 ) of dry matter was found in the specie S. yungasense 00070, whereas lowest 1.1 mg kg-1 and 2.3 mg kg-1 in S. pinnatisectum 00051, respectively, Tukey’s test of one way anova was performed for getting significance from the data obtained and found significant variation among species of steroid glycoalkaloids (SGA) content in dry weight at level of P ≤ 0.01. Leaf damages by Leptinotarsa decemlineata under field experiment circumstances were also recorded. In vitro study, S. bulbocastanum PIS 06-17 and S. bulbocastanum 00240 shown resistant to P. infestans upon inoculation of aggressive isolates and strong resistance was observed in S. stoloniferum 00295, S. sucrense 0062 and S. yungasense 0070. Nevertheless, there was no correlation of ploidy level, SGA contents and resistance to the CPB (r = 0.00) and late blight (r = 0.076) found in the investigated Solanum species

Unambiguous coherent state identification: Searching a quantum database

We consider an unambiguous identification of an unknown coherent state with one of two unknown coherent reference states. Specifically, we consider two modes of an electromagnetic field prepared in unknown coherent states alpha_1 and alpha_2, respectively. The third mode is prepared either in the state alpha_1 or in the state alpha_2. The task is to identify (unambiguously) which of the two modes are in the same state. We present a scheme consisting of three beamsplitters capable to perform this task. Although we don't prove the optimality, we show that the performance of the proposed setup is better than the generalization of the optimal measurement known for a finite-dimensional case. We show that a single beamsplitter is capable to perform an unambiguous quantum state comparison for coherent states optimally. Finally we propose an experimental setup consisting of 2N-1 beamsplitters for unambiguous identification among N unknown coherent states. This setup can be considered as a search in a quantum database. The elements of the database are unknown coherent states encoded in different modes of an electromagnetic field. The task is to specify the two modes that are excited in the same, though unknown, coherent state.Comment: version accepted for publication, 12 pages, 3 figure

Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum and Encephalitozoon cuniculi in Animals from Captivity (Zoo and Circus Animals)

Problems with parasitic infections are common in zoological gardens and circuses. In some animals it can lead to several disorders such as systemic disease, reproductive disorders (abortions and neonatal mortality), and even to death if severe illness is untreated. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of three common parasites in 74 animals from three zoos, and four circuses in Southern Italy. Antibodies to Toxoplasma gondii, Neospora caninum, and Encephalitozoon cuniculi were detected in 51%, 12%, and 20% of animals, respectively. Co‐infections of T. gondii and N. caninum were reported in seven animals (9%) and co‐infection of T. gondii and E. cuniculi in one animal. T. gondii, N. caninum and E. cuniculi seroprevalence differed in type of diet (P ≤ 0.0001; P ≤ 0.037 and P ≤ 0.004, respectively). T. gondii and E. cuniculi seroprevalence also differed in animal families (P ≤ 0.0001) and according to type of housing (P ≤ 0.003), respectively. Statistical differences were not found in other characteristics (gender, age, country of birth, origin, and contact with cats or dogs). This is the first serological study focusing on protozoan and microsporidian parasites in zoo and circus animals from Southern Italy and the first detection of antibodies to E. cuniculi in camels in Europe

Internal stresses in steel plate generated by shape memory alloy inserts

Neutron strain scanning was employed to investigate the internal stress fields in steel plate coupons with embedded prestrained superelastic NiTi shape memory alloy inserts. Strain fields in steel were evaluated at T = 21 °C and 130 °C on virgin coupons as well as on mechanically and thermally fatigued coupons. Internal stress fields were evaluated by direct calculation of principal stress components from the experimentally measured lattice strains as well as by employing an inverse finite element modeling approach. It is shown that if the NiTi inserts are embedded into the elastic steel matrix following a carefully designed technological procedure, the internal stress fields vary with temperature in a reproducible and predictable way. It is estimated that this mechanism of internal stress generation can be safely applied in the temperature range from −20 °C to 150 °C and is relatively resistant to thermal and mechanical fatigue. The predictability and fatigue endurance of the mechanism are of essential importance for the development of future smart metal matrix composites or smart structures with embedded shape memory alloy components

Towards an optimal swap gate

We present a novel approach that generalizes the well known quantum SWAP gate to higher dimensions and construct a regular quantum gate composed entirely in terms of the generalized CNOT gate that cyclically permutes the states of d qudits for d prime. We also investigate the case for d other than prime. A key feature of the construction design relates to the periodicity evaluation for a family of linear recurrences which we achieve by exploiting generating functions and their factorization over the complex reals

Failure of noninvasive prediction of pulmonary hypertension in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Background. Pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with advanced idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a complication connected with unfavorable prognosis. Great efforts have been made in attempting to establish a reliable non-invasive method which would enable detection of this complication. In this context a formula using pulmonary function parameters was published with outstanding results. Methods. We tested the formula in 27 IPF patients who underwent a lung function examination, cardiac ultrasonography and catheterisation on the same day. Results. Pulmonary hypertension was detected by catheterisation in 17 patients (63%). In our group, contrary to the published data, the aforementioned formula was neither useful for detecting patients with a high probability of PH nor as a means of calculating the mean pulmonary artery pressure in individual patients (p=0.502 and p=0.833, respectively). Ultrasound examination reached borderline correlation with the values measured by catheterisation when we compare patients with relevant results (r=0.531, p=0.051). However, the examination gave no usable results in 13 patients (48%). Conclusion. Our data suggests that no reliable, noninvasive method is currently available for detecting and confirming PH in IPF patients. We did not confirm the usefulness of the published formula. Further carefully organised studies will be necessary to verify or refute it

Biomarkers in adult asthma: a systematic review of 8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate

Objectives: We aimed to assess the evidence for the use of 8-isoprostane in exhaled breath condensate (EBC) as a biomarker in adult asthma. Design: A systematic review and meta-analysis of EBC 8-isoprostane. Methods: We searched a number of online databases (including PubMed, Embase and Scopus) in January 2016. We included studies of adult non-smokers with EBC collection and asthma diagnosis conducted according to recognised guidelines. We aimed to pool data using random effects meta-analysis and assess heterogeneity using I2. Results: We included twenty studies, the findings from which were inconsistent. Seven studies (n = 329) reported 8-isoprostane levels in asthma to be significantly higher than that of control groups, whilst six studies (n = 403) did not. Only four studies were appropriate for inclusion in a random effects meta-analysis of mean difference. This found a statistically significant between-groups difference of 22pg/ml. Confidence in the result is limited by the small number of studies and by substantial statistical heterogeneity (I2 = 94). Conclusion: The clinical value of EBC 8-isoprostane as a quantitative assessment of oxidative stress in asthma remains unclear due to variability in results and methodological heterogeneity. It is essential to develop a robust and standardised methodology if the use of EBC 8-isoprostane in asthma is to be properly evaluated

Summary of the Test Results of ITER Conductors in SULTAN

Abstract. After completing the qualification tests of the ITER cable-in-conduit conductors (CICC), the tests of samples from the series manufacture are running in the SULTAN test facility in Villigen, Switzerland. The key test for the conductor samples is the current sharing temperature, Tcs, at the nominal operating field and current, i.e. the maximum temperature at which the conductors operate before developing an electric field of 10 μV/m. All the TF samples fulfilled the ITER requirement of Tcs ≥ 5.8 K after 1000 load cycles. The Tcs results have a broad scattering among the suppliers, from 5.8 K up to 6.6 K. The assembly of the Nb3Sn based CICC samples (for TF and CS coils) is carried out at CRPP. The NbTi CICC samples (for PF, CC and bus bars) are assembled at the suppliers, with a U-bend replacing the bottom joint. The poor performance of some Main Busbar (MB) conductor samples, caused by poor sample assembly, triggered the effort to assemble a MB sample at CRPP with solder filled terminations and a bottom joint. The superior test results of the MB-CRPP sample, closely matching the performance assessment carried out using 3-D field distribution and n-index behavior was a successful achievement of the last year of operation. According to the Procurement Arrangement for the ITER coils, the winding companies must qualify the joint and termination manufacture by SULTAN samples. The first joint sample tested in SULTAN was a TF joint from EU, followed by a Correction Coil (CC) joint sample from China. Other joint samples are being assembled in USA (Central Solenoid), in Russia (PF1), in EU (PF2 - PF5) and in China (PF6). All the ITER coils use the “twin box” design for joints, except the Central Solenoid. At the first test in SULTAN of a twin-box TF joint sample in 2013, an unexpected resistance increase was observed after an accidental dump of the SULTAN field, causing a large field transient parallel to the joint contact surface, with large eddy currents and electromagnetic loads at the pressure-contact between strand bundle and copper plate of the twin box. The resistance requirement for the TF joint was still fulfilled after the dump. The initial performance of the joint sample for Correction Coil conductor was not satisfactory and a second qualification sample is being prepared

Elucidating the mechanism of ferrocytochrome c heme disruption by peroxidized cardiolipin

The interaction of peroxidized cardiolipin with ferrocytochrome c induces two kinetically and chemically distinct processes. The first is a rapid oxidation of ferrocytochrome c, followed by a slower, irreversible disruption of heme c. The oxidation of ferrocytochrome c by peroxidized cardiolipin is explained by a Fenton-type reaction. Heme scission is a consequence of the radical-mediated reactions initiated by the interaction of ferric heme iron with peroxidized cardiolipin. Simultaneously with the heme c disruption, generation of hydroxyl radical is detected by EPR spectroscopy using the spin trapping technique. The resulting apocytochrome c sediments as a heterogeneous mixture of high aggregates, as judged by sedimentation analysis. Both the oxidative process and the destructive process were suppressed by nonionic detergents and/or high ionic strength. The mechanism for generating radicals and heme rupture is presented