Plant communities in the European Alps are assumed to be highly affected by climate change, as the temperature rise in this region is above the global average. It is predicted that higher temperatures will lead to advanced snowmelt dates and that the number of extreme weather events will increase. The aims of this study were to determine the impacts of extreme climatic events on flower phenolog...

Yarrow (Achillea spp.) belonging to the family of Asteraceae with useful properties, such as anti-diaphoretic, anti-hemorrhagic, anti-inflammation, anti-biotic, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, Carminative and anti-oxidant effects. The present investigation assessed the morphological diversity of Achillea aucheri, which is indigenous plant from Damavand mountain of Iran. The samples were collected ...

Phytomass was measured and net potential productivity estimated for normal climatic conditions on the Otago rainshadow mountains. Seven tall snow tussock grasslands were compared with lower-statured cushion, herbfield and short grassland communities. Total phytomass ranged from c. 5-9 Kg m (22 000-40000 Kcal m) in tall tussock and c. 2-4 Kg m (8100-16500 Kcal m) in cushion, herbfield or short g...

Most of the alarming data about temperature rises as a result of likely climate change have come from high latitudes and altitudes. There appears growing evidence that glaciers and ice sheets are melting rapidly. The latest evidence comes from comparisons of pictures in the Andes reported last month which show that the Upsala glacier in Argentina has melted substantially, creating a lake where ...

Wind plays a significant role in the flight altitudes selected by nocturnally migrating birds. At mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere, atmospheric conditions are dictated by the polar-front jet stream, whose amplitude increases in the autumn. One consequence for migratory birds is that the region's prevailing westerly winds become progressively stronger at higher migration altitudes. We ex...

Background—Studies assessing the effect of altitude on cardiovascular disease have provided conflicting results. Most studies were limited because of the heterogeneity of the population, their ecological design, or both. In addition, effects of place of birth were rarely considered. Here, we examine mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in relation to the altitude of the place of res...

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and micro air vehicles (MAV) are already intensively used in geodetic applications. State of the art autonomous systems are however geared towards the application area in safe and obstacle-free altitudes greater than 30 meters. Applications at lower altitudes still require a human pilot. A new application field will be the reconstruction of structures and building...

W hile concussions occur in nearly every sport and level of competition, the greatest frequency occurs in collision and contact sports such as football, lacrosse, hockey, rugby, soccer, and basketball.16,22,27 Specifically with regard to football, attempts at player-safety improvements for concussion prevention date back to the implementation of helmets by the National Football League (NFL) in ...

STUDY DESIGN Retrospective epidemiologic investigation. OBJECTIVE To investigate the relationship between altitude and concussion rate in the National Football League (NFL). Because of the physiologic responses that occur during acclimatization to altitude, it was hypothesized that games played on fields at a higher altitude would have reduced concussion rates compared to games played on fiel...

The genus Cycloramphus Tschudi, 1838 is presently composed of 27 anuran species distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil (Frost, 2011). Heyer (1983), in a study dealing with variation and systematic of frogs of the genus Cycloramphus, removed C. brasiliensis (Steindachner, 1864) (Cycloramphidae) from the synonymy of C. fuliginosus Tschudi, 1838 (Cycloramphidae); that is...