abstract introduction: diabetes is one of the most common endocrine diseases spreading rapidly in the world. diabetes complications are classified into acute and chronic. non-enzymatic glycosylation of body proteins such as hemoglobin and albumin is the main cause of pathogenesis in chronic complications of diabetes. protein glycosylation is an oxidative reaction. antioxidants such as vitamin c...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS A meta-analysis of global change experiments in arctic tundra sites suggests that plant productivity and the cover of shrubs, grasses and dead plant material (i.e. litter) will increase and the cover of bryophytes will decrease in response to higher air temperatures. However, little is known about which effects these changes in vegetation structure will have on seedling recr...

Birch pollen is one of the main causes of allergy during spring and early summer in northern and central Europe. The aim of this study was to create a forecast model that can accurately predict daily average concentrations of Betula sp. pollen grains in the atmosphere of Szczecin, Poland. In order to achieve this, a novel data analysis technique--artificial neural networks (ANN)--was used. Samp...

In 2008, the European Union Commission put forward a proposal for a new directive on renewable forms of energy. Each of the member states should increase its share of renewable energies in an effort to boost the total share of the EU from the current 8.5% to 20% by 2020. The level of renewable energy in Finland was 28.5% in 2005, and the national target share of renewable energy by 2020 is 38%....

Understanding the nature and relative importance of endogenous (density-dependent) and exogenous (density-independent) effects on population dynamics remains a central problem in ecology. Evaluation of these forces has been constrained by the lack of long time series of population densities and largely limited to populations chosen for their unique dynamics (e.g., outbreak insects). Especially ...

The stabilization of slopes by vegetation has been a topical issue for many years. Root mechanical characteristics significantly influence soil reinforcement; therefore it is necessary to research into the indicators of root tensile properties. In this study, we explored the influence of root moisture content on tensile resistance and strength with different root diameters and for different tre...

This study investigates stable carbon and hydrogen isotope compositions of leaf wax n-alkanes from 3 angiosperm and 2 conifer species from a semi-desert natural environment. The dC and dD n-C27 alkane data show a clear distinction between Populus tremuloides/Syringa vulgaris ( 31.9 to 32.7‰ and 168 to 186‰, respectively) and Pinus sylvestris/ Picea pungens ( 28.8 to 30.6‰ and 190 to 212‰) throu...

Inonotus obliquus is a fungus that causes white heart rot on several broad-leaved species. This fungus forms typical charcoal-black, sterile conks (chaga) or cinder conks on infected stems of the birche (Betula spp). The dark brown pulp of the sterile conk is formed by a pure mycelial mass of fungus. Chaga are a folk remedy in Russia, reflecting the circumboreal distribution of I. obliquus in b...

Forest management in Sweden can be characterized by even-aged silviculture heavily relying on three established harvest regimes: clearcutting, the seed-tree method, and the shelterwood system. Less intense, small-scale retention harvest systems such as single tree and group selection harvest are rarely used. In addition, natural regeneration dynamics without enrichment planting have barely been...

It has been accepted that xylem ray parenchyma cells (XRPCs) in hardwood species respond to subfreezing temperatures either by deep supercooling or by extracellular freezing. Present study by cryo-scanning electron microscopy examined the freezing responses of XRPCs in five boreal hardwoods: Salix sachalinensis Fr. Schmit, Populus sieboldii Miq., Betula platyphylla Sukat. var japonica Hara, Bet...